THE NEW ZEALAND OFFICIAL YEAR-BOOK, 1979

The interpretation of the symbols used in the tables throughout this publication is as follows:

Some relationships between common British units and common SI units are shown in the following table.

New Zealand is in the south-west section of the Pacific, that great ocean stretching across one-third of the earth's surface. To the west, beyond the Tasman Sea, is Australia, 1600 kilometres away. From its position on the rim of the Pacific basin, New Zealand is a little over 10 000 kilometres from San Francisco and Panama and a similar distance from Tokyo and Singapore. In area 26.9 million hectares, it is similar in size to the British Isles and Japan.

One of the chief charms of the New Zealand landscape is its infinite variety. Such level lowlands as exist are small in area; contrasts between coastal plain and bordering hard-rock mountains are abrupt. High mountains make up most of the South Island area—often stark and bare or mantled in permanent snow. By contrast, most of the North Island is weak-rock hill country. From Cook Strait to the Bay of Plenty a hard-rock mountain core dominates the North Island scene, forming an effective barrier between east and west; the only low level gap across it is at the gorge cut by the Manawatu River near Palmerston North.

A peculiar and special feature of the North Island is the volcanic country of the interior. Here are the largest North Island lakes and in a line from Ruapehu to White Island, most of the still active volcanoes, hot springs, and geysers.

The most spectacular mountains are in the South Island; high mountains, deep and narrow valleys, swift rivers, and glacial lakes, large and small, give infinite variety to the scene. It is in this high country that ice has left its special mark in glacial troughs and fiords and, above all, the noble southern lakes. There is little weak-rock hill country in the South Island; the lowlands are mainly bordering plains, basin plains, and valley plains. Of these the most extensive are the plains of Canterbury and Southland.

New Zealand has large areas of luxuriant forests which are the delight of trampers, campers, and hunters. Forests cover nearly a quarter of the total land area, of which national parks and scenic reserves set aside as permanent forest or recreation areas form 2.4 million hectares.

The indigenous forests may be grouped broadly into two main formations: mixed temperate evergreen forest and southern beech forest. The former is a mixed community of many species of broadleaved trees and conifers, and the latter a pure community of one or more of the species of southern beech. Generally, the mixed temperate evergreen forests are the forests of the north and of the warm, wet lowlands and lower mountain slopes. The beeches form the forests of the south, of the high mountains, and of the drier lowlands. But there are extensive areas where the types mingle in forests of extremely varied composition.

Mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and beaches have influenced the characteristics of the people. New Zealand society has been shaped and subtly tempered by a number of factors—geographical, historical, social and psychological during more than a century of growth as a nation. New Zealand today represents both an extension and a modification of the European tradition. In addition to its Maori population, New Zealand has experienced in recent years a considerable inflow of Polynesians from its associated territories and elsewhere in the Pacific. Auckland has become the major city of Polynesia, and as such a focal point of the South Pacific. The Polynesian (including Maori) population is of greater significance than its relatively small numbers would suggest. Outside the Pacific area New Zealand may present a basically European face to the world, but the preservation of distinctive life-style by the Maori, together with a close compatibility (extending to frequent intermarriage) between the two races, has doubtless been a determining factor in the evolution of New Zealand society.

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION—The islands of New Zealand have been shaped from the projecting crests of earth folds which rise as broad ridges from the floor of the South Pacific Ocean, 1600 kilometres east of the continent of Australia. There are three main islands—North, South, and Stewart separated only by relatively narrow straits—with adjacent islets and a small group called Chatham Islands, 850 kilometres to the east of Lyttelton. Dating from 1842 the administrative boundaries of New Zealand, including the minor islands, extend from 33 degrees to 53 degrees south latitude and from 162 degrees east longitude to 173 degrees west longitude. Inhabited outlying minor islands are Raoul Island in the Kermadec Group, 930 kilometres north-east of the Bay of Islands, and Campbell Island, 590 kilometres south of Stewart Island.

The Ross Dependency, some 2300 kilometres to the south, has been under New Zealand's jurisdiction since 1923 and comprises the sector of the Antarctic continent between 160 degrees east and 150 degrees west longitude, together with the islands lying between those degrees of longitude and south of latitude 60 degrees south. The land area of the Ross Dependency is estimated at 414 400 square kilometres.

The area of New Zealand can be classified as follows.

GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES: Coastline—Since the combined length of the North and South Island extends over 1600 kilometres, and since the width of neither Island exceeds 450 kilometres at its broadest point, New Zealand possesses a very lengthy coastline in proportion to its area. With the exception of the low-lying North Auckland Peninsula, the New Zealand land mass lies along a southwesterly and north-easterly axis, parallel to the direction of its mountain chains.

In the North Island, Whangarei, Auckland, Tauranga, and Wellington are natural harbours which have been developed into ports for extensive use by overseas ships. At Napier and Gisborne artificial harbours have been made. On the east coast of the North Auckland Peninsula several other deep and sheltered harbours exist, but production from the hinterland is limited. In the South Island the Marlborough Sounds and Fiordland form perfect land-locked harbours, but owing to their situations and the rugged nature of the terrain they have—with the exception of Queen Charlotte Sound—little or no commercial utility. By dredging and by breakwater construction, ports capable of accommodating overseas vessels have been formed in Lyttelton, Otago, and Bluff Harbours and on the coast at Timaru. On the west coast of both Islands the strong ocean drifts and high seas cause shoaling at river mouths and harbour entrances, although an overseas port has been developed at New Plymouth, while on the east coast of the South Island similar circumstances prevail, due to the large quantities of shingle brought down by the rivers being spread along the coast by ocean currents.

Mountains—The mountainous nature of New Zealand is one of its most striking physical characteristics, less than one-quarter of the land surface lying below the 200 m contour. In the North Island the higher mountains occupy approximately one-tenth of the surface; but, with the exception of the four volcanic peaks of Egmont (2518 m), Ruapehu (2797 m), Ngauruhoe (2290 m), and Tongariro (1968 m), they do not exceed an altitude of 1800 m. Of these four volcanoes only the first named can be classed as dormant. Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe have been particularly active from time to time. Other volcanoes include Mount Tarawera and White Island, each of which has, upon one occasion within historical times, erupted with disastrous consequences. Closely connected with the volcanic system are the multitudinous hot springs and geysers.

The mountain system of the North Island runs generally in a south-west direction, parallel to the coast, from East Cape to Turakirae Head, and includes the following ranges from the north: Raukumara, Huiarau, Ruahine, Tararua, and Rimutaka. This chain is flanked on the west between the Huiarau and Ruahine by the Ahimanawa, Kaweka, and Kaimanawa Ranges, while west of the Kaimanawa is the National Park volcanic group comprising Mounts Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro. The Hauhangaroa and Rangitoto Ranges run in a northerly direction from the National Park group. In the east the Moehau Range parallels the length of the Coromandel Peninsula. Mount Egmont forms the only area above 1200 m on the west coast of this Island.

The South Island is much more mountainous than the North. Along almost the entire length of the Island runs the massive chain known as the Southern Alps, which attains its greatest height in Mount Cook (3764 m), while 19 named peaks exceed 3000 m. West and north-west of the main portion of the Southern Alps are the Victoria, Brunner, and Lyell Ranges and the Tasman Mountains, the Victoria Range being flanked by the Paparoa Range. To the north run the St. Arnaud and Richmond Ranges, while to the north-east are the Spenser Mountains and the Kaikoura and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges, the two latter ranges running parallel to the east coast. The south portion of the Southern Alps breaks up into a miscellany of ranges dominating the mountainous Fiord and north-western Southland regions.

There are at least 223 named peaks of 2300 m or more in altitude. Below is a list of the peaks restricted to the four largest volcanic cones in the North Island and to mountains of a minimum height of 2740 m in the South Island.

Glaciers—In keeping with the dimensions of the mountain system, New Zealand possesses, in the South Island, a glacial system of some magnitude. Of the glaciers the largest is the Tasman, which, with others of comparable size, rises in the more elevated area surrounding Mount Cook. Flowing down the eastern slope of the range, the Tasman Glacier has a length of 29 km and a width of 9 km. In common with other glaciers on the eastern slope, of which the more important are the Murchison (17 km), the Mueller (13 km), the Godley (13 km), and the Hooker (11 km), its rate of flow is slow, while its terminal face is at an altitude of somewhat over 600 m. On the western slope of the range, owing to the greater snow precipitation, the glaciers are more numerous and descend to lower levels, while the steeper slope gives them a more rapid rate of flow. The two largest of these are the Fox and the Franz Josef, with lengths of 15 km and 13 km respectively, and terminal faces at altitudes of 200 m and 210 m.

The glaciers are fed by snow brought to the Southern Alps by the prevailing winds off the Tasman Sea. Total yearly snowfalls at the higher elevations (1800–2500 m) vary from 3 m to 6 m. The steeper West Coast glaciers have little moraine (rock debris) carried on their surfaces and have shown a marked terminal retreat in recent decades. The large glaciers on the eastern side of the Southern Alps are mantled with moraine and show some terminal retreat.

In the North Island there are 7 relatively small glaciers on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu compared with more than 360 in the Southern Alps. However, during the ski-ing season the Whakapapa Glaciers, near the Chateau Tongariro, are visited by several thousand people each week.

Rivers—New Zealand rivers, owing to the high relief of the country, are mostly swift-flowing and difficult to navigate. As sources of hydro-electric power the rivers are of considerable importance, since their rapid rate of flow and dependable volume of water make them eminently suitable for this purpose. The Waikato and the Rangitaiki in the North Island and the Waitaki Cobb, Clutha, and Waipori in the South are used for major hydro-electric schemes.

Following is a list of the more important rivers. For purposes of uniformity, the length of a river is taken to be the distance from the mouth to the farthest point in the system, whether this should happen to bear the same name or that of an affluent, and is inclusive of the estimated course of a river flowing into and emerging from any lake in the system.

The discovery in 1861 that the beds of rivers in the South Island contained extensive deposits of alluvial gold was of considerable importance in the early economic development of the country.

With the very successful acclimatisation of freshwater fish, notably trout, many rivers now provide exceptionally fine fishing.

Lakes—In considering New Zealand's numerous lakes a distinction can be made, especially from the scenic viewpoint, between the lakes of the two Islands. Surrounded by extremely rugged country the larger lakes of the South Island are distinguished by the grandeur of their alpine settings, while some of the larger ones of the North Island, situated on a volcanic plateau, have their own particular beauty. As reservoirs the lakes of both Islands are of vital importance for the maintenance of the rivers and streams draining them and as a means of flood prevention. More especially is this the case where hydro-electric schemes are involved, Lakes Waikaremoana and Taupo in the North Island, and Lakes Coleridge, Pukaki, Tekapo, Wanaka, Hawea, Manapouri, and Wakatipu in the South Island, being of particular significance in this respect. A series of narrow man-made lakes have been produced in connection with hydro-electric development along some of the rivers. In 1965 Lake Benmore, New Zealand's largest artificial lake, was created. It lies on the Waitaki River in North Otago and covers 79 sq km in area and consists of two arms, the main arm being 30 km in length and the Ahuriri Arm 18 km in length.

Some particulars of the more important lakes are given in the following table.

GEOLOGY—The islands of New Zealand are part of the unstable circum-Pacific Mobile Belt. This is a region where volcanoes are active and where the Earth's crust has long been buckling and breaking at a geologically rapid rate. The interplay, in the past, of earth movements and erosion has made the sedimentary rocks that cover almost three-quarters of New Zealand. Land areas that the earth movements have raised have been attacked by erosion, and the sand, mud, shingle, and other debris thus formed has been carried away to the sea, where it has accumulated in great thicknesses to form rocks such as sandstone, mudstone, greywacke, and conglomerate; the shells and other skeletons of sea creatures have accumulated to form thick layers of limestone. Many of the sedimentary rocks are in distinct layers called strata. Earth movements have later raised them above the sea to form land, and the strata have in many places been tilted and folded by pressure. Seas have advanced and retreated over the New Zealand area many times and these sedimentary rocks represent almost every geological period since the Cambrian (see Time Scale). Their age is revealed by the molluscan shells, foraminifera, and other fossils that they contain, as well as by various radioactive techniques.

As well as sedimentary rocks, and volcanic rocks of various ages, New Zealand incorporates in its complex structure schist, gneiss, marble and other metamorphic rocks, and granite, diorite, gabbro, serpentine, and other intrusive igneous rocks. Most of these metamorphic and intrusive rocks are hundreds of millions of years old. They were formed at depth in the Earth's crust early in New Zealand's history, in the “roots” of ancient mountain ranges, long ago destroyed, and are visible at the land surface today only because erosion has removed thousands of metres thickness of other rocks that once covered them. The metamorphic rocks developed by the action of heat and pressure on the thick sediments (up to tens of thousands of metres) deposited in huge, elongated sea basins (geosynclines), which continued to sink as the deposits accumulated. When these geosynclines were slowly compressed during major mountain-building episodes the deeper sediments were subjected to great pressure and shearing stress, which caused new minerals and structures to develop, changing the sediments into metamorphic rocks. The granites and other intrusive rocks are coarsely crystalline, and are usually considered to have intruded into the outer crust in a molten state during mountain building; some, however, may be the products of an intense metamorphism of sediments.

Geological History—Evidence of the earliest-known events in New Zealand's history is given by ancient rocks in Nelson, Westland, and Fiordland that were formed in the early Paleozoic era, perhaps as long as 600 million years ago (some in Westland may be older). They include thick, geosynclinal sedimentary rocks. This suggests that a large land mass existed nearby at that time to yield the great volume of sediments, but little has been deduced about its shape or position.

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

In the early Cretaceous period one of the main mountain-building episodes in New Zealand's history took place. Although geosynclinal sedimentation continued through the Cretaceous period in eastern New Zealand the geosyncline elsewhere was compressed, and the sediments were intensely crumpled and broken and raised above the sea, probably forming a large, mountainous land mass. Some of the geosynclinal deposits, now exposed over much of Otago, alpine Westland, and parts of Marlborough Sounds, were metamorphosed into schist and gneiss by high temperatures and the tremendous deforming pressures to which the geosyncline was subjected.

The time that has elapsed since the intense folding of the strata in the New Zealand geosyncline in the mid-Cretaceous period may be considered as the later geological history of this country, embracing roughly 100 million years.

During the early part of this late history, erosion slowly wore down the mountains that had risen, producing a land of low relief. Over these worn-down stumps of the Mesozoic mountains the sea gradually advanced, beginning its transgression earlier in some areas than in others. In the early Cretaceous period it began to submerge land in the region of present North Auckland and the eastern margins of the North and South Islands, and thick deposits of mudstone and sandstone accumulated in some parts of these areas. At the close of the Mesozoic era, and in the very early Tertiary era, land became so reduced in size and relief that little sediment was formed, and only comparatively thin deposits of fine bentonitic and sulphurous muds, and fine, white, foraminiferal limestone accumulated. In some areas New Zealand's main coal deposits accumulated in swamps on the surface of the old land. These became buried by marine deposits as the sea continued its transgression in the Eocene period.

By the Oligocene period, most of the land was submerged, and in shallow waters free of land sediments, thick deposits of shell and foraminiferal limestone accumulated. (Scattered, remnant patches of this Oligocene limestone furnish most of New Zealand's cement and agricultural lime.)

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

Very late in the Cenozoic era—in the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods—one of the greatest episodes of mountain building in New Zealand's history took place. Earth movements became intense, and slowly pushed up the Southern Alps and other main mountain chains, and determined the general shape and size of the present islands of New Zealand. Much of the movement during this mountain-building period (the Kaikoura Orogeny) took the form of displacement of blocks of the Earth's crust along fractures called faults. The total movements of the earth blocks adjacent to major faults amounted to thousands of metres. It must have been achieved very slowly, probably by innumerable small movements, each less than a few metres. The blocks adjacent to “transcurrent” faults moved not only vertically but also laterally along the faults. The New Zealand landscape today in some regions shows well preserved tilted fault blocks bounded by fault-scarps—steep faces hundreds or even thousands of metres high. Fault movements continue to the present day, and have accompanied several major earthquakes of the past century. Many minor but revealing landscape features such as scarplets, fault ponds, and shutter ridges show where movement has been occurring in recent centuries.

Erosion during this time has eaten into the major landscape forms that the earth movements built, carving detailed landscape patterns of peaks, ridges, valleys, and gorges, and the deposition of the debris has built up alluvial plains, shingle fans, and other construction forms. At the coast, waves have driven back the headlands and built beaches, spits, and bars. The Pleistocene period was the time of the Ice Age, and in the high mountains of the South Island glaciers carved deep valleys and carried huge loads of rock, dumping them in the lower parts of the valleys as moraines. The late Pleistocene glaciers carved the fiords of Fiordland and the basins occupied by most South Island lakes; there were small glaciers also on Ruapehu, where remnants survive, and on Mount Egmont and the Tararua Range. Sea-level changes accompanied the formation and later melting of the land ice, affecting the erosion or deposition of the rivers and thus being responsible for the formation of the many prominent river terraces in this country.

Volcanic activity of the past few million years has played an important part in making the rocks and shaping the landscape of parts of the central and northern North Island. Banks Peninsula, a twin volcanic dome in Canterbury, also achieved much of its growth then. The largest volcanic outpourings of late geological times in New Zealand have been in the region between Tongariro National Park and the Bay of Plenty Coast: andesite lava, scoria, and ash were erupted in the Pleistocene period and later to build the huge volcanoes, Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Ngauruhoe. More than 8000 cu km of molten rhyolitic magma was erupted in the form of ignimbrite, pumice, and rhyolite lava, building up the Volcanic Plateau. This is one of the largest and youngest accumulations of acid volcanic rocks in the world.

Mount Egmont is a huge, conical, andesite volcano, with the remnants of two other volcanic cones nearby; all are of Pleistocene age. In the Waikato there are eroded Pleistocene cones of approximately basic andesite composition. The largest is Pirongia, some 900 m high. Auckland city and the area immediately to the south has been the scene of many eruptions of basalt lava and scoria in late Pleistocene and Holocene times; and many small scoria cones can be seen in the locality. Late Tertiary and Quaternary basaltic eruptions in North Auckland have built lava plateaus and many young cones.

EARTHQUAKES: Geophysical Background—An earthquake occurs when energy is suddenly released from a volume of rock within the Earth's outer layers, and is radiated outwards in the form of elastic waves that can be felt at places near the origin, and detected by sensitive instruments at greater distances. Earthquakes are most common in certain geographically limited regions, one of which includes New Zealand. Within these disturbed zones, young fold mountains, oceanic trenches, volcanoes, anomalies in the Earth's gravitational field, and active geological faulting are also usual, and like the earthquakes have their ultimate cause in the internal processes incidental to the major structural development of the Earth, and as yet imperfectly understood.

The seismically active zones define the margins of a system of stable blocks or plates which are not completely inactive, but experience large earthquakes only infrequently, and are thought to be the primary units of the Earth's crust. Two of these units, the Pacific and Indian Plates, abut in the vicinity of New Zealand, forming a triple junction with a third, the Antarctic Plate, south of Macquarie Island. As a result of thermally generated convective movements in the deeper levels of the earth, relative displacement of the plates is occurring and this provides the continuing source of the energy that is intermittently released as earthquakes.

Instrumental records have shown that at the time of an earthquake large shearing movements take place at the source. It seems probable that all major earthquakes are the result of the breakage of rock under strain, but other factors such as the presence or absence of liquid in the pores and fractures of the rock are also of primary importance in determining the time and place at which a shock occurs.

In large shallow earthquakes a rupture may appear at the surface, forming or renewing movement on a geological fault. In regions where the majority of earthquakes are very shallow, such as California, there is a tendency for the earthquake origins to cluster near geological fault traces, but in regions where there is deeper activity, such as New Zealand, this is not so. For example, there is little activity near the Alpine Fault, which stretches for some 500 km from Milford Sound to Lake Rotoiti, and is considered one of the world's largest and most active faults. Conversely, instances of fault movement that have not been accompanied by earthquakes are known. Practical assessments of earthquake risk must therefore be based upon the statistics of known earthquake distribution and the broader geological setting of the origins.

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

Other natural disasters and accidents are together responsible for more casualties than earthquakes, the most serious seismic disasters in New Zealand having been the Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931 in which 256 deaths occurred, and the Buller earthquake of 1929 in which there were 17. The total resulting from all other shocks since 1840 is less than 15 deaths. The last earthquake to cause deaths occurred at Inangahua in 1968, when 3 people died.

Regarded broadly, the zone of seismicity within which New Zealand lies extends continuously from the triple junction south of Macquarie Island to Samoa. When looked at more closely, breaks in continuity and changes in the character of the activity become apparent. There are changes in direction, in the positional relationship of the deeper and shallower activity, and in its association with the other geophysical and geological features of the region.

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

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

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

The most important system of deep shocks in New Zealand lies in a well-defined zone beneath the Main Seismic Region, stretching from the Bay of Plenty to Nelson and Marlborough. The maximum depth of occurrence is about 400 km at the northern end, and decreases smoothly to a depth of about 200 km before the southern boundary of the region is reached. Along the whole of the system, there is also a decrease in maximum depth from west to east. In northern Taranaki, near the western limit of this activity, a small isolated group of shocks at a depth of about 600 km has also been recorded. In the Central Seismic Region only shallow shocks are known.

The maximum depth of the earthquakes in the Fiordland Region appears to be only about 160 km, but it is only recently that instrumental coverage has been adequate for a proper study of this area. Here, the deep activity is more concentrated than in the north, lying close to Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri.

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

Seismological Observatory—Each year the Seismological Observatory, Wellington, a section of the Geophysics Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, publishes the analyses of many hundred earthquakes originating in the New Zealand region, using data obtained from its own network of recording stations, and from stations in other countries. The instrumental data are supplemented by information about felt effects, supplied by a large number of voluntary observers, who complete a standard questionnaire.

The network of recording stations controlled by the Observatory is now one of the world's largest and most extended, covering the main islands of New Zealand, a large part of the south-west Pacific, and the Ross Dependency. The 35 permanent stations now operating are:

Afiamalu, Apia (Western Samoa); Nadi (Fiji); Niue; Rarotonga (Cook Islands); Raoul Island (Kermadecs); Cape Reinga, Onerahi, Great Barrier, Auckland, East Cape, Karapiro, Whakatane, Gisborne, Wairakei, Tuai, Tarata, Chateau, Taradale, Mangahao, Castlepoint, Cobb River, Wellington, Kaikoura West, Kaimata, Christchurch, Chatham Islands, Mount John, Milford Sound, Oamaru, Roxburgh, Monowai, Oban; Campbell Island; Scott Base (Antarctica).

At Afiamalu, Rarotonga, Wellington, and Scott Base the equipment includes instruments of internationally standardised pattern designed to record both local and distant activity. The stations at Karapiro and Roxburgh are also equipped to record both local and distant shocks. At the other stations, many of which record more than one component of the ground motion, the instruments are primarily intended for the study of shocks within about 1000 km. Scott Base and several of the island stations provide preliminary readings by radio, but all final analyses are made at the Observatory in Wellington.

Two networks of more closely-spaced stations, connected to central recorders by radio links or land lines, provide for detailed studies of small earthquakes in particular regions. One, for general research purposes, is centred on Wellington, and the other, near Lake Pukaki in the South Island, is primarily intended to monitor any change in earthquake activity associated with the development of a hydroelectric power scheme. These networks also provide valuable readings of New Zealand and overseas earthquakes. Portable equipment is available for more intensive study of aftershock sequences, earthquake swarms, and micro-earthquakes, and for other research projects. In addition, the Department's Physics and Engineering Laboratory maintains a network of strong-motion recorders intended to provide data on large shocks for engineering purposes.

The information collected and published by the Observatory covers all significant earthquakes in the New Zealand region. It is made freely available to the public and the press, as well as to seismologists, engineers, and other specialists. In addition, a very large number of distant earthquakes are recorded, and readings of these, as well as of the local activity, are regularly sent to international agencies and to overseas seismologists who have a need for them. The Observatory itself carries out a vigorous programme of research into problems of seismicity and earthquake mechanism, and into the structure and constitution of the Earth's crust and its deep interior.

EARTHQUAKES DURING 1978—No important earthquake occurred in the New Zealand region during 1978, making that year and the previous year two of the quietest since modern recording instruments were first installed in the 1930s. There was no significant damage, and only two shocks were felt over wide areas. No shock reached magnitude 6, and there was less than half the usual number of shocks reaching magnitude 5. Although the Seismological Observatory located and assigned magnitudes to some 700 small events, this was about 300 less than in a normal year.

On the morning of May 15 some minor damage resulted from a shock of magnitude 3.9 near Maungaturoto in North Auckland. A hopper at the Ruawai lime-works fell and hit an adjoining building, and in a few places where local soil conditions intensified the vibration, plaster and brickwork was slightly cracked. This part of New Zealand is widely believed by the public to be free from earthquake risk, and it is unusual for damage to result from so small a shock. This may be possibly attributed to the failure of local builders to consider the need for earthquake resistance, and to the unusually shallow origin of the shock.

The largest shock within the New Zealand region proper was a shallow earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the morning of 18 January. Although it was felt over much of north Canterbury and Westland, the shaking was nowhere severe enough to move goods or cause damage. The only other event of comparable size was a deep event of magnitude 5.6 on 22 September. It was centred some 200 km beneath the western Bay of Plenty and attracted attention in many places from Tolaga Bay to Blenheim. It was not, however, felt in places near the epicentre, the felt area being displaced to the east by the structural peculiarities of the North Island. This is usual with shocks of this kind. Because of the large focal depth, surface intensities were everywhere low.

Of the minor shocks that were felt the most important were shallow earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 and 5.3 in the Te Anau district on 31 January and 21 July respectively, and smaller events near Maruia Springs on 12 June and again on 21 June, in central Hawke's Bay on 4 May, and near Wellington in the early morning of 15 August, when a few light sleepers were awakened. A similar shock occurred south of Blenheim on 1 December.

A shock of unusual scientific interest occurred on 1 July. This was centred on the West Norfolk Ridge, some 350 km to the west of Cape Reinga and 400 km south of Norfolk Island. Earthquakes beneath the deep ocean are rare, but occasional shocks have been felt on Norfolk Island in the past. As the magnitude of this shock was only 4.7, it has been difficult to place accurately, even with the help of Australian stations. Unfortunately the former station on Norfolk Island was closed a few years ago as an economy measure.

Volcanic activity has been limited to intermittent ash and steam eruptions from White Island throughout the year. The volcanoes of the central North Island have been quiet.

WEATHER INFORMATION—The New Zealand Meteorological Service maintains networks of meteorological stations within New Zealand, its island dependencies, at Scott Base and, by arrangement, in Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Cook and Gilbert Islands. The weather observations are transmitted regularly to Wellington for international exchange, for the preparation of weather forecasts and special warnings, for compiling climatological statistics, and for providing a general weather information service for Government departments, industry, and the general public. All weather observations are preserved in the Meteorological Archives, Wellington. The Meteorological Service also has a programme of atmospheric research.

Observations recorded at a few selected stations in 1978 are summarised in tables which follow but for further detailed climatological statistics reference should be made to the annual publications of the New Zealand Meteorological Service; Miscellaneous Publications No. 109 Meteorological Observations, and No. 110 Rainfall Observations. Current statistics appear monthly in the New Zealand Gazette. Special reports are published from time to time to supplement the regular data publications.

Most weather data are now held in computer accessible-data files, and several kinds of computer output are available to provide an alternative means of dissemination of information to the printed publications.

CLIMATE—Situated between 34°S and 47°S the main islands lie within the belt of generally strong westerly winds which encircles the hemisphere south of about latitude 35°S. Just to the north is the high-pressure ridge of the subtropics from which barometric pressure decreases southwards over New Zealand to the deep low-pressure trough located near latitude 70°S.

The weather pattern from day to day is dominated by a succession of anti-cyclones, separated by troughs of low pressure, which pass more or less regularly from west to east across the Australia-Tasman Sea-New Zealand area and beyond. In this region there is no semi-permanent anticyclone such as those found in similar latitudes over the Indian Ocean and eastern Pacific Ocean respectively. The troughs normally have a north-west to south-east orientation and are associated with deep depressions centred far to the south. A typical weather sequence commences with a low-pressure trough approaching from the west. Freshening north-westerly winds prevail with increasing cloud, followed by rain for a period during which winds may reach gale force. The passage of the trough, with its associated cold front, is accompanied by a change to cold south-westerly or southerly winds and showery weather, occasionally with some hail and thunder. Barometers then rise with the approach of the next anticyclone from the west. Winds moderate and fair weather prevails for a few days as the anticyclone moves across the country.

While the sequence just described is very common the situation is frequently much more complex. The troughs are very unstable systems where depressions readily form, some of which develop into vigorous storms that may pass over New Zealand at any time of the year. Occasionally in summer a cyclonic storm of tropical origin passes over or near New Zealand accompanied by gales and heavy rain affecting mainly northern and eastern districts of the North Island. The anticyclones vary in size, intensity, and rate of movement. Their centres, on the average, follow a track across the North Island but individual centres may pass either north or south of the country, the more northerly tracks being favoured in spring and the southerly tracks in autumn. At times when little development occurs within the troughs the anticyclones follow each other at intervals of about 6–7 days.

The other main factors which influence the climate of New Zealand are, first, its position in the midst of a vast ocean, and second, the shape and topography of the country itself.

Hot air masses from the interior of Australia in summer or freezing air masses from the Antarctic, which occasionally reach New Zealand, retain little of their original character after their long ocean passage. Thus, there is an absence of extreme variations of temperature. On the other hand, since abundant supplies of moisture are supplied by evaporation from the ocean, and depressions are frequent and vigorous, the average precipitation is high.

The chain of high mountains, which extends from south-west to north-east through the length of the country, rises as a formidable barrier in the path of the prevailing westerly winds. The effect is to produce much sharper climatic contrasts from west to east than in the north-south direction. In some inland areas of the South Island just east of the mountains the climate is distinctly continental in character, despite the fact that no part of New Zealand is more than 130 km from the sea.

Winds—Winds from a westerly quarter prevail in all seasons, with a general tendency to increase in strength from north to south. However, considerable local modifications to the general air flow occur during its passage across the mountainous terrain. Approaching the main ranges the flow from the west turns towards the north-east and on descending on the eastern side swings towards the south-east. This results in an increased number of south-westerlies in Westland and predominance of north-westerlies in inland districts of Otago and Canterbury, where strong gales from this quarter occur at times in the late spring and summer. Daytime sea breezes usually extend from the coast inland for 30 km or more during periods of settled weather in summer. On the Canterbury coast the wind comes most frequently from the north-east, partly because there is a persistent sea breeze from this quarter, but south of Dunedin south-westerlies predominate. Cook Strait, the only substantial gap in the main mountain chain, acts as a natural funnel for the air flow and is a particularly windy locality afflicted by gales from the south-east as well as the north-west. This “funnel” effect is also in evidence about Foveaux Strait. North of Taranaki the general air flow is more from the south-west, and there is a noticeable reduction of windiness in the summer.

An indication of the variation in the frequency of strong winds from summer to winter and in different parts of the country, is given in the next table. These figures were all obtained by the use of anemographs at airports.

Rainfall—The distribution of rainfall is mainly controlled by mountain features, and the highest rainfalls occur where the mountains are exposed to the direct sweep of the westerly and north-westerly winds. The mean annual rainfall (see map) ranges from as little as 300 mm in a small area of Central Otago to over 8000 mm in the Southern Alps. The average for the whole country is high, but for the greater part it lies between 600 and 1500 mm, a range regarded as favourable for plant growth in the temperate zone. The only areas with under 600 mm are found in the South Island to the east of the main ranges. These include most of central and north Otago, and South Canterbury. In the North Island, the driest areas are central and southern Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and Manawatu where the average rainfall is 700–1000 mm a year. Of the remainder, much valuable farm land, chiefly in northern Taranaki and Northland, has upwards of 1500 mm. Over a considerable area of both Islands rainfall exceeds 2500 mm a year but, with the exception of Westland, this is mountainous and unoccupied, much of it being forest-covered.

For a large part of the country the rainfall is spread evenly through the year. The greatest contrast is found in the north, where winter has almost twice as much rain as summer. This predominance of winter rainfall diminishes southwards. It is still discernible over the northern part of the South Island but, over the southern half, winter is the season with least rainfall, and a definite summer maximum is found inland due to the effect of convectional showers. The rainfall is also influenced by seasonal variations in the strength of the westerly winds. Spring rainfall is increased in and west of the ranges as the westerlies rise to their maximum about October, while a complementary decrease occurs at the same time in the lee of the ranges.

Areas which are exposed to the west and south-west experience much showery weather, and rain falls on roughly half the days of the year. Over most of the North Island there are at least 150 rain days (days with at least 0.2 mm of rain) a year except to the east of the ranges where there are, in places fewer than 125 rain days. Those areas of the South Island with annual rainfall under 600 mm generally have about 100 rain days a year. In the far south the frequency of rain increases sharply; in Stewart Island and Fiordland rain days exceed 200 a year. Over most of the country between 55 and 65 percent of the rain days also qualify as wet days (2.5 mm or more). The percentage increases to over 70 in Westland, but in the low rainfall area of inland Otago there are only about 40 wet days a year compared with 100 rain days.

On the whole the seasonal rainfall does not vary greatly from year to year, the reliability in spring being particularly advantageous for agricultural purposes. It is least reliable in late summer and autumn, when very dry conditions may develop east of the ranges, particularly in Hawke's Bay.

The highest daily rainfall on record is 582 mm which occurred at Rapid Creek, Hokitika Catchment, where the mean annual rainfall exceeds 6000 mm. Other areas with considerably lower rainfall are also subject to very heavy daily falls; such areas are to be found in northern Hawke's Bay and in northeastern districts of the Auckland Province. By contrast, in the Manawatu district and in Otago and Southland daily falls reaching 80 mm are very rare.

Figure 3.1. MEAN ANNUAL RAINFALL 1941–70

Thunderstorms—Thunderstorms are not numerous. Their frequency is greatest in the north and west where thunder is heard on 15 to 20 days a year; east of the ranges (except in Gisborne) the figure is five or less.

Hail—Hail is most frequent in the south-west where it is reported on about 20 days a year, but for the greater part of the country it occurs on about 5 days a year or less. Most of the hailstones are small, but occasionally large stones cause local damage to glasshouses, and to orchards and market gardens, chiefly in Canterbury and Hawke's Bay.

Temperature—Mean temperatures at sea level decrease steadily southwards from 15°C in the far north to 12°C about Cook Strait, then to 9°C in the south. With increasing altitude, temperatures drop about 2°C per 300 m. January and February, with approximately the same mean temperature are the warmest months of the year; July is the coldest. Some temperature statistics for selected places are included in the table on climatological averages. Highest temperatures are recorded east of the main ranges, where they exceed 30°C on a few afternoons in most summers, usually in association with a north-westerly Föhn wind. The extremes for New Zealand (measured in a standard thermometer screen) are 42°C, which has been recorded in three places: Jordan (Marlborough), Christchurch, and Rangiora (Canterbury); and -19°C at Ophir (Central Otago).

As is to be expected, there is a small annual range of temperature (difference between mean temperature of the warmest and coldest months). In Northland and in western districts of both Islands the annual range is about 8°C. For the remainder of the North Island, and east coast districts of the South Island, it is 9°-10°C. Further inland it exceeds 11°C in places, reaching a maximum of 14°C in Central Otago where there is an approach to a continental type of climate.

Frost—It is well known that local variations in frostiness are considerable, even within quite small areas. On a calm, clear night the cold air in contact with a sloping surface gravitates slowly downhill to collect in valleys and depressions, and it is these “Katabatic” drifts which are mainly responsible for local temperature variations at night. Gently sloping ground with a northerly aspect tends to be least affected by frost. Favourable sites in coastal areas of Northland are free of frost, although further inland light frosts occur frequently in the winter months. At Albert Park, Auckland, the screen minimum thermometer (1.3 m above the ground) has registered below 0°C only once in 65 years, yet up the harbour at Whenuapai Aerodrome there are eight screen frosts per annum on the average. Excluding the uninhabited mountainous areas, the most severe winter conditions are experienced in Central Otago and the Mackenzie Plains of inland Canterbury, and on the central plateau of the North Island. Even in these areas night temperatures as low as –12°C are rarely recorded. Elsewhere over the North Island the winters are very mild and pastures maintain continuous growth. In both Islands sheep and cattle remain in the open all the year round.

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

Relative Humidity—Humidity is commonly between 70 and 80 percent in coastal areas and about 10 percent lower inland. It varies inversely to the temperature, falling to a minimum in the early afternoon when temperature is highest and frequently lying between 90 and 100 percent during clear nights. As the following table shows, the diurnal variation is greater than the difference between summer and winter.

Very low humidity—from 30 percent down to about 5 percent—occurs at times in the lee of the Southern Alps where the Föhn effect is often very marked. In summer the hot, dry “Canterbury Nor'-wester” is generally a most unpleasant wind. Cool south-westerlies are also at times very dry when they reach eastern districts. In Northland the humid mid-summer conditions are inclined to be rather oppressive though temperatures rarely reach 30°C. Dull, humid spells are generally not prolonged anywhere, but their frequency shows a marked increase in the south.

Sunshine—The sunniest places are near Blenheim, the Nelson-Motueka area, and Whakatane, where the average duration of bright sunshine exceeds 2350 hours a year. The rest of the Bay of Plenty and Napier are only slightly less sunny. A large portion of the country is favoured with at least 2000 hours. Even Westland, despite its high rainfall, has 1800 hours. Southland, where sunshine drops sharply to about 1700 hours a year, lies on the northern fringe of a broad zone of increasing cloudiness. Four hundred miles further to the south at Campbell Island the sunshine has the extremely low value of 650 hours a year. A pleasant feature of the New Zealand climate is the high proportion of sunshine during the winter months. To eliminate the effect of varying day-length the summer and winter sunshine at a few selected stations has been expressed as a percentage of the possible sunshine.

As these figures indicate, there is a marked increase in cloudiness in the North Island in winter, but little seasonal change in the South Island, except in Southland.

Climatological Averages—The following table provides a brief summary of the main climatological elements for selected locations.

NOTES: (1) Averages of rain days and wet days 1950–70; sunshine 1941–70; mean temperature, mean daily maximum and mean daily minimum 1941–70; other temperature data and days of screen frost, various periods—all exceeding 10 years.

Summary of Meteorological Observations for 1978—The observations from which the following summary was compiled for the year 1978 were made at 0900 hours New Zealand standard time, i.e. 2100 hours Greenwich mean time.

For 1978 the mean sea level pressure values in millibars at 0900 hours New Zealand standard time were: Auckland, 1016.7; Kelburn, Wellington, 1015.2; Nelson Aerodrome, 1015.4; Hokitika Aerodrome, 1005.3; Christchurch, 1014.1; and Dunedin Airport, 1013.6.

Brief Review of 1978—Pressures were appreciably below normal during June and July with a greater frequency than usual of easterly winds. During September, October and November there was a marked absence of strong northwest winds. Districts east of the main ranges in the South Island experienced cloudy wet conditions during the seven months from April to October inclusive.

The drought during the summer of 1978 was one of the most severe that has occurred in New Zealand in at least the last 30 years, second only to the summer of 1972–73 for most regions.

Throughout the North Island the only districts with rainfall above normal were some parts of Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, and Wairarapa. Some areas in Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay were below normal by more than 40 percent, and many districts were below by at least 25 percent.

Most eastern districts of the South Island had 25 percent more rainfall than normal. In coastal regions of Canterbury and Otago some areas were above normal by more than 50 percent. In Nelson. Marlborough and parts of the West Coast, Otago, and Southland the year's rainfall total was below normal by 10 to 25 percent.

Over the whole of New Zealand temperatures were above average. The average departure over the country was 0.5°C above normal. In parts of Wairarapa, inland Canterbury, and central and coastal Otago temperatures were more than 1.0°C above normal. The lowest departures were in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and parts of Southland.

The only areas with less sunshine than normal were parts of Northland, Bay of Plenty, Nelson, North Canterbury, Otago, and Southland. In some of these districts the deficit was 60 to 90 hours. At Palmerston (Otago) nearly 140 hours less sunshine than normal were recorded. The greatest departures above normal were in Taranaki, Central North Island Districts, Manawatu, Wellington, and parts of Canterbury. At New Plymouth, Ohakea, and Wellington, in excess of 140 hours more sunshine were measured.

Seasonal Notes—During January pressures everywhere were unusually high and there was a predominance of westerly winds over most of the country. The only areas with above normal rainfall were the extreme north of Northland and the West Coast. At Blenheim Aerodrome no rainfall was recorded during the month, and at Motueka only 0.1 mm. Many districts had less than 10 percent of their normal month's total but parts of Westland were above normal by more than 50 percent. Temperatures were above normal over the whole of New Zealand. Apart from the West Coast temperatures were at least 1.0°C above average, and almost 2.0°C above in parts of the central North Island and Otago. The only area that had below or near normal sunshine for the month was Westland, the rest of the country having at least 10 percent above average. Pastures became very dry during the month with negligible grass growth. Stock started to lose condition and on some farms dairy production was down by 20 percent.

In February most of the country experienced dry conditions for the second successive month. Some areas had substantial rainfalls during the month, but these were mainly of very short duration and did little to relieve the drought conditions over the major part of the country. The only areas with above normal rainfall were parts of Northland, Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay. At Gisborne more than 200 percent above the normal total was recorded. Severe flooding occurred in Gisborne on 5 February when an exceptionally heavy thunderstorm passed over the area. Between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. more than 140 mm of rain were recorded at Gisborne Aerodrome. Temperatures were above normal by at least 1.0°C throughout most of New Zealand. In parts of Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Central Districts, Manawatu, and Canterbury, temperatures were more than 2.0°C above average. At Christchurch and Hokitika the highest February sunshine totals were recorded since the stations began in 1949 and 1964 respectively. Grass growth was poor during the month and hay was being fed to stock in many areas. Dairy production in some districts was about 60 percent of normal.

March was the third consecutive month with pressures above normal over the whole of New Zealand. The month was sunny, warm and dry in most areas apart from the West Coast and parts of Southland. A state of emergency was declared in the Haast area on 27 March when rivers swollen by flood waters broke their banks. More than 370 mm were recorded at McPherson Camp (Haast) in 24 hours during 26–27 March. Temperatures were above normal over the whole country with the exception of parts of the West Coast. In Canterbury they were above normal by more than 2.5°C. Grass growth improved during the month but the lack of substantial rainfall had a serious effect on the growth of winter feed.

April was a warm but cloudy and wet month in many areas, especially east of the main ranges. Drought conditions were relieved in most districts with substantial rainfalls about the middle of the month. Many parts of Marlborough, Kaikoura and Canterbury had monthly rainfall totals of 200 to 300 percent above normal. At Spotswood (Canterbury) the total for the month was more than 500 percent above normal. On 13–14 April Greymouth experienced the worst flooding the town has had for many years. In a 12 hour period nearly 214 mm were recorded, and people were evacuated when flood waters entered homes and others were endangered by land slips. On 17 April, 52 mm were recorded in a period of 2 hours at Kaikoura. At Reefton the mean temperature for the month was 4.0°C above normal, and in some parts of both Islands temperatures were above normal by more than 3.0°C. The total sunshine hours were below normal over the whole country with the exception of a small area around Auckland. In most districts stock was reported to be regaining condition after the long dry spell.

During May conditions were warmer and drier than usual in most districts, the only regions with appreciably above normal rainfall being Westland, Fiordland and parts of Northland and Southland. Some districts in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato had less than 10 percent of their normal month's total. Widespread flooding occurred on 30–31 May in northern and western districts of Southland. It was reported that the Aparima River rose to nearly 4 metres above its normal level at Dunrobin. During the same period nearly 415 mm of rain were recorded at Milford Sound, this being the heaviest 24 hour total recorded there in any month since 1958. Temperatures were above normal over most of New Zealand for the fifth consecutive month. At Hanmer Forest only 58 hours sunshine were recorded for the month, and this is the lowest in any month since the station began in 1930. Grass growth was reported to be good, but some farmers found conditions too dry and had to irrigate pastures.

June was a cloudy month in most districts east of the main ranges with sunshine well below normal. Winds were predominantly easterly over the whole of New Zealand throughout the month. Conditions were unusually dry on the West Coast. Milford Sound recorded only 30 mm of rain during the month, and this is the lowest total for any month since the station began in 1930. On 21 and 22 June torrential rain along the northeast coast of the North Island caused a large washout on the Auckland-Whangarei railway line near Wellsford. Some districts in Canterbury, Otago and Southland had mean temperatures below normal by more than 2.0°C. The only areas with above normal sunshine were parts of Taranaki, Southland and the West Coast. Stations on the east coast had 60 to 80 percent of their normal sunshine hours. In some areas severe frosts retarded grass growth but stock condition on the whole was good.

Over most of New Zealand July was a wet and relatively mild month. Gale force winds affected many areas in the North Island and parts of the South Island on 18–19 July when a deep depression moved slowly southwards over the country. Winds were gusting to 95 knots at Cape Reinga on 18 July and 61 knots in Auckland City on 19 July. The worst affected areas were the Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki Plains. At Mount Te Aroha a gust of 120 knots was measured on the morning of 19 July, and more than 100 buildings were damaged in the area. Along the Canterbury and Otago coasts, from Geraldine to Palmerston, many stations had monthly rainfall totals 150 to 300 percent above normal. Mean temperatures were above normal over most of New Zealand with sunshine hours mainly below normal. Most farmers reported that conditions were too wet for good grass growth and that more sunshine was needed to dry pastures before lambing.

In August most of the North Island experienced dry, warm conditions, but in the South Island most regions were wetter than usual. Cloudy conditions prevailed in most areas west of the main ranges. Many stations in South Canterbury, Otago and Southland recorded more than double their normal August rainfall. Snow, followed by exceptionally heavy rainfall in the South Canterbury and Otago regions on 25 August caused widespread flooding over large areas of the Taieri Plains. At Oamaru Aerodrome 58 mm were recorded in 24 hours. Day-time maximum temperatures were about 1.0°C above normal in most places. In areas east of the ranges the total sunshine for the month was between 15 and 30 hours more than normal. There were some lamb losses in Canterbury, Otago and Southland during the wet spell towards the end of the month.

September was a cloudy month, with parts of Canterbury and Otago having their fourth consecutive month with rainfall well above normal. Winds were considerably lighter than usual throughout the month. In the South Island the only areas with below normal rainfall were parts of Nelson, Westland, inland Otago and Southland. In Canterbury, many stations recorded more than 200 percent above their usual September totals and at Methven more than 370 percent more than the monthly total was measured. Temperatures were slightly cooler east of the main ranges, by nearly 1.0°C in Hawke's Bay and inland Canterbury. At Hanmer only 95 hours sunshine were recorded during the month, this being the lowest recorded at this station in September since the station began in 1930. Lambing progressed well in the North Island, but in parts of Canterbury losses were high in some areas because of the wet conditions.

October was a cold month over most of New Zealand, and drier than usual except in parts of the South Island. This was the fifth consecutive month that areas in Canterbury and Otago had above normal rainfall. During the 24 hour period from the morning of 13 October almost continuous heavy rain was recorded in many areas in Southland and Otago. Civil emergencies were declared at Mataura and Riversdale as rivers burst their banks, and extensive flooding and land slips isolated other towns. The town of Kelso and parts of Alexandra were evacuated. The highest 24 hour falls were recorded in an area south of Queenstown to Invercargill. At Tapanui 119 mm were recorded in the 24 hours to 9 a.m. on 14 October. This has never been exceeded in any month since the station began in 1897. Temperatures were below normal over the whole country. Many stations on the west coast of both Islands recorded 40 hours more sunshine than usual. Some heavy stock losses were reported during the period of heavy rain in Southland and Otago.

During November conditions were dry and sunny along the east coasts of both the North and South Islands with temperatures slightly above normal in most areas. This was the first time in six months that Canterbury and Otago had below normal rainfall. On 12 November a state of civil emergency was declared at Ohura (King Country) when the Mangaroa River burst its banks after heavy rainfall. The river rose to 6 metres above normal and floodwater was to a depth of 1½ metres throughout the town. Many homes were evacuated and stock was moved to higher ground in low lying farmland north of the town. At Uruti nearly 270 mm were recorded in the three days from 9 a.m. on 10 November to 9 a.m. on 13 November. At Christchurch Airport 31.0°C was recorded on 28 November and this is the highest measured there in November since 1957. Many areas had between 10 and 25 hours more sunshine than normal. Grass growth was poor in the northern half of the North Island, with ground conditions becoming extremely dry. Stock was in good condition but dairy production was down compared with previous years.

December was the first month since July with pressures below normal over the whole of New Zealand. There was a period of strong northwest winds on 21 and 22 December. Most of the country had warm, dry, sunny conditions, but some areas in the South Island were slightly wetter than usual. Parts of Hawke's Bay and Poverty Bay had less than 50 percent of their normal month's rainfall. In Canterbury and Otago some districts had more than double the usual rainfall for the month. Christchurch Airport recorded their highest December total since the station began in 1943. Snow was reported down to 1300 metres in Central Otago on 10 December, and at Naseby snow was lying to a depth of 7.5 cm. Temperatures were 0.5°C above normal over most of the country. On the east coast of the country maximum temperatures were above normal by 4.0°C to 10.0°C on 18 and 19 December. Haymaking progressed well towards the end of the month after delays by wet weather earlier.

The early history of the people of New Zealand and the coming of the Maoris is shrouded in myth and based on orally-transmitted traditions and the knowledge won from midden heaps, burial grounds, and the sites of early settlements by the spade of the archaeologist. It seems probable that the country was sparsely settled by a Polynesian people, ancestors of the present-day Maoris, by about the tenth century A.D. Certainly, by the thirteenth or fourteenth century there were well-established settlements and the early stages of exploration were over.

It is generally accepted that the ancestors of the Maoris came originally from South-east Asia, whence, as proto-Polynesians, they moved eastwards from island to island until they reached the eastern Pacific, where they settled the islands now known collectively as Polynesia. From Polynesia they sailed south-west in ocean-going canoes to reach New Zealand. These voyages were probably spread over several generations, perhaps several centuries. Oral Maori history and genealogy support the view that there was a final wave of migration of considerable magnitude about A.D. 1350. Adapting themselves to a new physical environment, in isolation from the outside world, the Maoris produced forms of social and economic organisation and material culture which were significantly different from their Polynesian prototypes.

Coming from tropical latitudes, the Maoris mainly confined themselves to the warmer North Island, and when discovered by Europeans were in a high state of neolithic civilisation, with marked superiority in the arts of wood carving and military engineering. Their principal social unit was the family group, and from combinations of the numerous groups were formed the subtribes and tribes. They had highly developed social and ritualistic customs, and their system of land tenure and methods of cultivation were communal within the subtribes. Inter-tribal and intra-tribal warfare was common, and as individuals Maoris displayed exceptional courage and intelligence.

The introduction of European diseases and firearms, and the impact of European civilisation on the traditional way of life and customs of the Maoris, had such an adverse effect that their numbers must have been reduced by over half during the nineteenth century. However, the virility of the race gradually asserted itself, and from the beginning of the twentieth century the Maori population has been rapidly increasing.

Discovery by Europeans—On 13 December 1642, Abel Janszoon Tasman, a navigator of the Dutch East India Company, discovered the country to which he gave the name of Staten Land, and which later became known as “Nieuw Zeeland”. Tasman had left Batavia on 14 August 1642, and after having discovered Tasmania, he steered eastward and sighted the west coast of the South Island, described by him as a high mountainous country. Sailing north, he had the misfortune to come into conflict with the Maoris at Golden Bay, on the north coast of the South Island, so that, though he continued his northward journey until he reached the northern tip of the country, he did not again attempt to land.

There is no record of any European visit to New Zealand after Tasman's departure until Captain (then Lieutenant) James Cook sighted land on 7 October 1769 near Gisborne. Cook and a party of men from the Endeavour landed at Gisborne on 9 October 1769. On his first voyage Cook spent 6 months exploring the New Zealand coastline, and he completely circumnavigated the North and South Islands. His activities can best be described by saying “he found New Zealand a line on a map, and left it an archipelago”. Not only was Cook's ability shown by his cartographical accuracy, but also in his peaceful dealings with the Maoris. He returned to New Zealand again in 1773, 1774, and in 1777. His careful observations made New Zealand known to the western world; the accounts of his voyages were translated into a dozen languages.

The 15 islands forming the Cook Islands group were discovered piecemeal over a period of 240 years, the first by the Spanish explorer, Mendana, in 1595, several by Captain Cook during the period 1773 to 1777, and the last, Nassau, in 1835.

The European discovery of Niue was made by Captain Cook in 1774. It was formerly believed that the first recorded discovery of the Tokelau group was made by the Spanish explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros in 1606. However, it is now thought that it was one of the northern Cook Islands that he sighted, and that the first European to visit Tokelau was Commodore Byron. R.N., who sighted Atafu in 1765.

First European Settlements—Whaling stations sprang up along the New Zealand coast from 1792 onwards and a trade with New South Wales began not only in whale oil and seal skins, but also in flax and timber. In 1814 Samuel Marsden, chaplin to the Governor of New South Wales, was responsible for the establishment of the first mission station in the Bay of Islands.

The growing white population in the Bay of Islands, and the lawlessness of crews of visiting ships led to the appointment by the British Government of James Busby as British Resident at Waitangi in 1833. The Governor of New South Wales in 1837 sent Captain William Hobson, in command of HMS Rattlesnake, from Sydney to the Bay of Islands to report on New Zealand. Among other things, Hobson suggested a treaty with the Maori chiefs and the placing of British subjects under British law. On 29 January 1840 Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands as Governor to proclaim British sovereignty.

By 1840 numerous mission stations had spread through the northern half of the North Island. Conversion of Maori tribes to Christianity was accompanied by the introduction of new crops and methods of cultivation and pacification of the warring tribes.

Early Constitutional Developments—On 29 January 1840 Captain William Hobson, R.N., arrived in the Bay of Islands. His instructions from the British Government required him to take possession of the country with the consent of the Maori chiefs, this policy being designed by the Colonial Office, strongly influenced by missionary opinion, to safeguard the well-being of the native people. Hobson read his commission at Kororareka on 30 January and on 6 February 46 chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, a compact whereby all rights and powers of sovereignty were ceded to the Queen, all territorial rights were secured to the chiefs and their tribes (with the Crown having the sole right of purchase) and in return the Queen extended her protection and all the rights and privileges of British subjects. Other chiefs throughout both Islands later adhered to this Treaty.

On 21 May 1840 Governor Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty in the case of the North Island by virtue of the Treaty of Waitangi, and in the case of the South Island and Stewart Island by right of discovery. New Zealand remained a dependency of New South Wales until 3 May 1841, when it was created a separate colony by Royal Charter dated 16 November 1840. The capital was at first transferred from Russell to Auckland, but in 1865 it was again transferred, on this occasion to Wellington, where the seat of Government has since remained.

During Governor Grey's term, steps were taken to draft a constitution for the colony. An Act granting representative institutions was passed by the Imperial Parliament on 30 June 1852, and was published in New Zealand by Proclamation on 17 January 1853. Under it, provision was made for the constitution of a General Assembly consisting of a Legislative Council and a House of Representatives. Provision was also made for the division of the country into provinces, each province having an elected Council and Superintendent. (The provincial system was abolished in 1875 and the Legislative Council in 1950.) In the first General Assembly of 27 August 1854 certain members of this body were associated with the permanent members of the executive but they did not hold any portfolios. It was not until 7 May 1856 that responsible government was actually established.

One aspect, that of Native Affairs, was withheld from the responsible Ministers, and the Governor, as representative of the Crown, continued to act independently of his elected advisors in this sphere. In 1861 Grey attempted unsuccessfully to hand over this responsibility but the Ministers were unwilling to assume responsibility for the cost of the war. Finally in 1864 Sir Frederick Weld instituted the “self-reliant policy” whereby the colony accepted responsibility for the settlement of difficulties with the Maoris and consented to the withdrawal of troops by the Imperial Government.

Colonisation—The first body of immigrants to reach New Zealand under a definite scheme of colonisation arrived at Port Nicholson, Wellington, on 22 January 1840 to found the initial settlement of the New Zealand Company. The colonists were in the main sturdy resourceful people seeking a better future than was offering in nineteenth century industrial England.

The guiding genius of the company, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, aware of the intention of the British Government to annex New Zealand, had earlier (in 1839), dispatched his agents in order to purchase large areas of land from the Maoris before the Crown could assume a monopoly of land purchase.

Wakefield's scheme of colonisation was based on the sale of land to investors or men of wealth for development by labouring class immigrants. With the profit from land sales the company could bring out more immigrants. Wakefield aimed at a balance between landowners and labourers; in effect he aimed to transplant a cross-section of English society. But, ignorant of the system of tribal ownership of Maori land, the company had bought land from individual Maoris; then Hobson provided that all European land titles should derive from the Crown which would be the only purchaser of land from the Maoris. Title to land remained a difficulty for some years and was a cause of distress to the colonists and, combined with a considerable degree of absentee ownership and land speculation, made most precarious the existence of the early company settlements of Wellington, Wanganui, New Plymouth, and Nelson. The company had brought nearly 10 000 persons to New Zealand by 1848. The later settlements of Otago, in 1848, and Canterbury, in 1850, organised under the aegis of the New Zealand Company in co-operation with the Free Church of Scotland and the Church of England respectively, achieved a much greater measure of success owing to the absence of any large Maori population and to satisfactory land purchase arrangements.

The non-Maori population in the main settlements in 1842 totalled 3801 in Wellington, 2895 in Auckland, 2500 in Nelson, 895 in New Plymouth, 380 in Russell, 263 in Hokianga, and 198 in Akaroa. By 1862 the non-Maori population had reached 125 000 (as against 55 000 Maoris) and by 1866 it had jumped to 200 000 with men from Australia joining in the gold rush to Otago. Migration then dropped away until 1874 when there was a high inflow for several years from Britain with the Vogel policy of public works development.

War Over Land—After the death of Hobson in 1842, subsequent governors, through lack of funds and weak administration, found themselves unable to protect the small and helpless settlements from threatening Maori aggression engendered by strong feelings on land ownership. The response of the Colonial Office was to appoint Captain George Grey as Governor and to provide him with adequate funds and troops so that he soon restored order and won not only the confidence of the Maoris but also for a time that of the settlers. Grey, through his chief land purchase officer, Donald McLean, endeavoured to buy up land in advance of the settlers' needs in order to prevent conflict between settlers and Maoris. By 1858 the census revealed that the settlers outnumbered the Maoris who, fearful that they were being swamped by the settlers, became increasingly reluctant to sell their land. At the same time the intensified settler pressure for more land led Mclean to negotiate only with those Maoris still favourably disposed to land sales. This practice alarmed the other Maoris and finally the war broke out in 1860 over a land dispute at Waitara in Taranaki where settler demand for land was strongest. The return of Grey as Governor did not solve the problem for, as an autocrat, he could not work with elected ministers nor could he regain the confidence of the Maoris and finally he quarrelled with the commander of the Imperial troops. Widespread confiscation of Maori land by the settlers' government in order to pay the cost of the war included land belonging to friendly as well as hostile Maoris and aroused further resentment. The war had died down by 1870 and during the term of Donald McLean as Native Minister some measure of reconciliation began. However, although a substantial portion of the confiscated land was subsequently purchased or returned, land transactions remained a source of bitterness and potential hostility between Maori and settler.

Public Works and Farm Development—The absence of hostilities and the discovery of gold had allowed the South Island to obtain a lead in commercial and political development which it long maintained. Moreover, with the subsequent agrarian expansion especially in the development of the large pastoral holdings, the country ceased to be merely self-sufficient agriculturally but began to develop a substantial export trade, mainly in wool.

By 1870 the gold boom had ended in the South Island. To remedy the situation of economic stagnation, Sir Julius Vogel began a policy of extensive borrowing for railway and road construction and for immigrant labour. The results of this policy were to double the population to 500 000 by 1880, to immensely improve transport and communications, and to encourage industry in the towns where most of the immigrants had congregated.

With the introduction of refrigeration in 1882 and steam navigation in the late 19th century, the development of exports of frozen meat and dairy products assured the dominance of the United Kingdom in New Zealand's external trade. These developments, with a continued substantial investment of British capital, particularly in farming and food processing industries, established that degree of specialisation to meet the needs of the British market, which shaped the entire New Zealand economy during its first hundred years.

The depression of the 1880s, a consequence of a fall in world price levels, resulted in unemployment and large emigration but export prices recovered in the nineties. From 1880 onwards the natural increase of births over deaths exceeded the net inflow from migration.

In 1891 John Ballance, as leader of the Liberal Party, became Premier to be followed on his death in 1893 by Richard John Seddon, who remained Premier until his death in June 1906. The Government pursued a vigorous legislative programme in which the main emphasis was on social justice.

The expansion of the exports in dairy produce and frozen meat during the 1890s produced more intensive settlement and the rise of a new farming class in which the “cow-cockie” was the dominant figure. These farmers, having benefited by the spread of prosperity, were in 1911 mainly responsible together with the city businessmen for the overthrow of the Liberal regime. The new Reform Government under William Massey introduced measures to strengthen the primary producer, of which the extension of rural credit was typical.

Three years after the advent of the Reform Party, the First World War, 1914–1918, broke out, leading to a coalition Government and an Imperial commandeer of exports which created the precedent for the establishment after the war of central boards to regulate the exports of pastoral products. War activities were marked by heavy casualties in proportion to the population while the landing at Gallipoli signified the growing awareness of a sense of nationhood.

Though the effects of the post-war depression during the period 1921–24 showed themselves in an increase in unemployment and slight wage reduction, no drastic legislation was necessary to stabilise economic conditions. During the following years the price level rose; and on the administrative side, the period was characterised by extensive public works expenditure, with particular attention to hydroelectric schemes and highways.

Land values rose steeply, accelerated by Government efforts to settle returned servicemen on the land, and between 1915 and 1925 forty percent of the occupied land had changed hands. New Zealand was extremely vulnerable to the overseas price fluctuations of pastoral products. With the advent of the depression by 1930, farmers, despite greatly increased production, were faced with a serious decline in income (over forty percent) together with heavy mortgage commitments on land bought at high prices so that many were faced with foreclosure. In the towns, tradesmen and shopkeepers faced bankruptcy, and wage earners unemployment or reduction in wages. A Coalition Government was formed in 1931 to meet the crisis. Partly as a result of measures taken by this government and partly as a result of a rise in overseas price levels a general economic revival was taking place by 1935. The election of a Labour Government, under the leadership of Michael Savage, in 1935 led to changes in administrative policy and a renewed emphasis on social problems.

War and Post-war—The financial needs of the Second World War from 1939 onwards were met with virtually no overseas borrowing. Financing the war by taxation and internal borrowing also assisted in the achievement of a successful stabilisation policy. Full employment in war was followed by full employment in peace. Expansion and diversification of manufacturing and servicing industries provided avenues of employment for the growing labour force.

At the 1949 election the Labour Government was defeated after holding office since 1936. It was succeeded by a National Government, under the leadership of Sidney Holland.

In 1957, the Labour Party gained a narrow victory at the polls under the leadership of Walter Nash. Budgetary policy to meet a recurrence of the balance of payments crisis proved unpopular and at the 1960 election, the National Party under the leadership of Keith Holyoake was returned to power, as it was in subsequent elections in 1963, 1966, and 1969. At the 1972 election the Labour Party swept back into power under Norman Kirk. Following Kirk's untimely death in 1974 W. E. Rowling became Prime Minister. At the 1975 election there was a dramatic reversal of the position 3 years earlier, and the National Party under Robert Muldoon was returned to power with a substantial majority. The new Government faced growing economic difficulties and rising unemployment as a result of economic recession overseas, steep rises in oil prices, and the loss or shrinkage of traditional markets for agricultural products. At the 1978 election the National Party narrowly retained power with a greatly reduced majority.

Later Constitutional Developments—In 1907, in recognition of an emerging sense of nationality and an increasing desire for self-reliance in political matters, New Zealand had been given the title of Dominion in lieu of Colony.

A further step in the evolution of New Zealand into full nationhood came in 1947, when New Zealand belatedly adopted the Statute of Westminster, which had been passed by the United Kingdom Parliament in 1931. The draft of this statute had been submitted for the confirmation of the various Commonwealth legislatures before its passage through the United Kingdom Parliament. The statute granted complete autonomy to the various self-governing member countries, but it did not automatically apply to Australia or New Zealand. Its operation in the latter self-governing members of the Commonwealth was declared to require specific adoption by the legislatures of those countries.

Some surviving doubts concerning the authority of the New Zealand Parliament over the Constitution were resolved when, at the request of the New Zealand Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament passed a Constitution Amendment Act authorising the New Zealand Parliament to amend any of the provisions of the Constitution Act of 1852.

In 1950 the Prime Minister, Sidney Holland, initiated a constitutional change when the Legislative Council, the “second house” of the General Assembly, was abolished on the grounds that it no longer possessed any effective function.

The present Constitution and recent developments are dealt with later in this section under the heading, “The Constitution of New Zealand”.

DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ZEALAND'S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: The Beginnings—The emergence of a distinctive and independent New Zealand foreign policy is usually regarded as dating from 1935, following the election of a Labour Government under Michael Savage. While this did indeed mark a turning point in the development of a more vigorous and assertive New Zealand foreign policy the origins of the foreign service itself can be traced much earlier. Soon after New Zealand became a British colony, following the enactment of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the New Zealand colonists, finding themselves excluded from a system of government in which official business with Great Britain was transacted by correspondence between the Secretary of State for the Colonies and a Governor empowered to act as sole representative of colonial views to the Imperial Government, began to appoint their own colonial agents to make representations on their behalf in London.

Charles Clifford, a Wairarapa farmer, was the first such agent. Deputed by the Wellington Settlers' Constitutional Association, he travelled to England in 1848 to press the case for self-government for the new colony. In 1851 he was followed by William Fox, bearing the title “Honorary Political Agent”.

In 1852 the British Parliament enacted legislation providing for a limited form of self-government for the new colony. The provincial councils that were established in New Zealand as a result of this legislation soon found it necessary to appoint their own business agents in Britain for the explicit purpose of “promoting immigration (and) for protecting and advancing in Great Britain the political or other interests of the said Province” (Otago ordinance). These agents, appointed during the 1850s, though few in number and of doubtful political status in the eyes of the British Colonial Office, can be seen in every respect to be the earliest forerunners of today's unified overseas service which, some hundred and thirty years later, actively promotes New Zealand's political, economic, trading, and security interests around the world.

The provincial agents represented the interests of the individual provinces which, being relatively isolated at the time, were still developing along independent lines. The day-to-day interests of the Central Government, sited first in Russell, then Auckland, and later Wellington, were represented by the British Colonial Office itself. From time to time the Central Government felt the need for more direct representation and on these occasions ministerial missions were dispatched to London. The most significant of these early missions was in 1870, undertaken against the background of a popular uprising of anti-British feeling and talk of secession. The Imperial Government had moved to withdraw the last British troops at a time when Te Kooti was still active. Featherston and Bell were given full representative powers under a Colonial Act passed for the express purpose of securing the status of their mission (the New Zealand Commissioners Act of 1870, in some ways the forerunner of the External Affairs Act of 1943) and were sent to London to persuade the Imperial Government to stay its hand. They failed.

The following year the Vogel Ministry moved to consolidate its representation arrangements in London. In 1871 Featherston was sent back to London as a resident Agent-General, a new post designed principally to under-pin the ambitious programme of immigration and public works initiated by Julius Vogel the year before. From 1871 to 1904 a succession of able New Zealanders, amongst them Featherston, Vogel, Francis Dillon Bell, Perceval, and William Pember Reeves, acted as Agents-General, performing all the functions (despite the ambiguity of the title and the nature of the colonial relationship) of diplomatic representatives of a sovereign power.

In 1904 the post of Agent-General was elevated to High Commissioner. In Seddon's eyes, the change was a necessary reflection of the need to ensure the respect and influence due to the New Zealand representative “in the heart of the Empire”. Seddon's definition of the High Commissioner's role, “a diplomat to be in close touch with the Colonial Office, British statesmen, and people, and at the same time financial and commercial representative, ambassador, and courier ... the eyes, ears, and voice of the New Zealand Government in Great Britain ... (able to) simply voice the desire of the people of the colony”, is sufficiently close to the letters of instruction provided to our present-day representatives that in these early beginnings one can clearly see the origins of the New Zealand Foreign Service as it is today.

What of our broader interests? Strictly speaking, a dependent colony can, by definition, have no foreign policy and no international relations. But the colony, even before it was raised to Dominion status in 1907, exercised a vigorous interest in the affairs of the Empire and, on occasions, did not hesitate to prosecute an independent line. For example, from 1870 to the close of the century, New Zealand politicians, (notably Vogel, Stout, and Seddon), as Governor Grey had before them, bombarded London with arguments in favour of annexing territories in the Pacific for the creation of a Pan-Pacific Empire based on New Zealand. In 1883 the New Zealand Parliament, at Grey's initiative, enacted a Bill to enable the colony to establish relations with such Pacific peoples as might desire them. The Bill provided for a Pacific Federation and claimed for the colony the power to annex any unappropriated islands. On the advice of the British Colonial Office, Royal assent was not forthcoming and the Bill therefore failed to become law.

The final collapse of these plans in 1899 (when the British Government renounced its rights in Samoa in favour of Germany and America) and 1900, when Seddon's repeated proposals that the administration of Fiji be entrusted to New Zealand were finally rejected, marked the end of a consistent thread in New Zealand foreign policy that had been elaborated since the 1840s. Though the policy that New Zealand's nineteenth century statesmen had vigorously advocated was perhaps over-ambitious, given the colony's limited resources of manpower and wealth, it did at least have the advantage of resting on a sound appreciation of New Zealand's geographic position.

Following Seddon's death in 1906, and with the collapse of its Pacific vision, interests, and ambitions, New Zealand entered a period in which for a generation it was generally content to have its foreign policy laid down by the Imperial Government: “having lost contact with their own area, New Zealanders no longer had anything unique to contribute to Imperial policy. It is not without significance that the first flowering of New Zealand nationalism had been expressed in terms of New Zealand's place in the South Pacific”. Paradoxically, the opening of this quieter period in the development of New Zealand's international relations coincided with the elevation to Dominion status in 1907.

The passing of Seddon in 1906 marked the end of an era of vigorous self-assertion and the beginning of a relatively quiescent period in the development of an independent New Zealand foreign policy, a period that was destined to continue until the Savage Government came to power in 1935. But in the intervening years, and notwithstanding the prevailing sentiment that where Britain led in the development of foreign policy we would willingly follow, there were some developments of considerable significance to the later history.

Following the end of the First World War, New Zealand participated in the Versailles Conference and was a signatory in its own right to the Treaty of Versailles which came into force in January 1920. A mandate was acquired over Western Samoa. In 1926 a small Imperial Affairs Section, forerunner to the External Affairs Department, was established in the Prime Minister's Department to deal with treaty matters, the League of Nations, and international questions generally. This followed the Imperial Conference of 1926 at which the equal status of members of the British Commonwealth was recognised (the Balfour Declaration). The Imperial Affairs Section remained, however, for some time to come the only practical manifestation of New Zealand's newly acquired freedom to deal directly with other countries: the Dominion took no immediate steps to establish direct relations with foreign governments or—apart from Britain—with other members of the Commonwealth. In 1928 New Zealand entered into its first direct trade agreement with a foreign power, Japan, for all practical purposes the first such occasion in which the negotiations had been conducted directly rather than through the medium of the British Foreign Office.

The contrast between the policies followed in the 1920s and those adopted under the Savage Government from the close of 1935 is most clearly illustrated by the New Zealand attitude to the League of Nations. From the foundation of the League following the Peace Conference at Versailles, Massey and those who followed took the view that the League was no place for a loyal Dominion to voice views that contradicted Imperial policy. With the coming to power of the Savage Labour Government there re-emerged a willingness to take an independent line that had lain largely dormant since the death of Seddon. New Zealand spoke strongly for the principle of collective security and collective police action on a succession of issues (Abyssinia, Spain, China) at a time when the United Kingdom and other powers were following a policy which would later be described as appeasement.

Despite these differences there was, however, no suggestion that New Zealand was departing from its historically close association with Britain. The course it would follow in the event of war was never in doubt. When war broke out the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. M. J. Savage, expressed New Zealand's position in terms which reflected New Zealand's sovereignty as well as its ties with Britain.

“Behind the sure shield of Britain we have enjoyed and cherished freedom and self-government. Both with gratitude for the past, and with confidence in the future, we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand. We are only a small and young nation, but we are one and all a band of brothers, and we march forward with a union of hearts and wills to a common destiny.”

The Second World War changed the pattern of power in the world. The New Zealand Government established (in effect from 1943) a career foreign affairs service, and made a beginning in stationing its own diplomatic representatives in countries where New Zealand's interests made their presence necessary. In particular, New Zealand sought to foster good relationships with its neighbours in the Pacific and Asia and to increase the measure of security and welfare in these areas.

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

There have been several periods of expansion in the establishment of New Zealand posts overseas. Aside from the three posts set up during the Second World War (Washington, Ottawa, Canberra) to maintain consultations with our closest allies, the first main period of expansion came in the 1950s as a consequence of the recognition that our security was closely bound up with that of South-east Asia. Following the signature of the ANZUS Treaty, which came into force in 1952, and the Manila Treaty in 1954, diplomatic relations were established with a growing number of Asian countries. By the end of the 1950s five New Zealand posts had been set up in Asia and the substance of our bilateral relations had broadened considerably.

A second period of expansion in the 1960s led to the setting up of a number of diplomatic posts in Western Europe in response to the need to defend New Zealand's essential economic and political interests as Britain negotiated its terms of entry into the European Economic Community. At the same time a more gradual expansion was underway in the Pacific. As island states became independent and as the extent of New Zealand's economic and political relations in the South Pacific increased, a number of South Pacific posts were opened. Finally, as the 1970s draw to a close, a fourth phase is now underway—one which is closely related to New Zealand's search for new trading opportunities as the degree of dependence on traditional markets in Western Europe is gradually reduced. The diversification both in the range of goods exported and in markets has led to the strengthening of posts in certain areas—particularly in Asia and the Pacific—and the opening of new posts in the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Posts have also been opened in China and reopened in the Soviet Union and an extensive network of multiple accreditations arranged to allow New Zealand's overseas representatives to cover several countries from the one base.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN RECENT YEARS—The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the primary responsibility of advising and assisting the Government in formulating and executing decisions in the field of New Zealand's external relations. It is the agency through which other governments and their representatives in New Zealand communicate with the New Zealand Government. It operates New Zealand's aid programmes and maintains New Zealand's diplomatic and consular representation abroad. The ministry's overseas functions are discharged through a network of diplomatic and consular posts consisting of embassies, high commissions, consulates-general, and other permanent missions. At home, the preparation and co-ordination of foreign policy recommendations is carried out in close association with a number of other Government departments.

The ministry has a substantive role in the formulation and execution of New Zealand's economic policies. In Wellington the ministry works closely on these questions with other departments such as the Treasury, Department of Trade and Industry, Customs Department, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Economic activity is as much part of an overseas mission's everyday work as its political, consular, and trade functions. Officers of the ministry have a major responsibility to inform foreign government's of New Zealand's policies, negotiate agreements, and keep the New Zealand Government informed of economic developments in the country to which they are accredited.

The ministry has a special role also as a clearing house for material provided by New Zealand posts overseas for other departments, and through its posts it performs numerous services on behalf of departments without representatives abroad. It must also ensure that overseas posts are kept supplied with up-to-date information about New Zealand.

In the Official Section at the end of this Yearbook the diplomatic and other New Zealand representation overseas is listed.

New Zealand in the Commonwealth—As a member of the Commonwealth, New Zealand is able to consult and co-operate with 38 other countries in a wide variety of activities, both governmental and non-governmental. The value to New Zealand of its Commonwealth links is derived not only from the practical benefits of what the Commonwealth does, but also from the heterogeneous composition of the association. Its 39 members take in the 6 continents and the 5 oceans of the world. The Pacific region is now well represented in the Commonwealth. Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands are now full members along with Australia and New Zealand, and Nauru and Tuvalu have special membership status. The Cook Islands and Niue are not eligible for full membership because of their continuing constitutional association with New Zealand. They cannot therefore attend Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings. They are entitled, however, to participate in Commonwealth meetings dealing with those subjects for which their governments are responsible.

As the Commonwealth has grown and changed, its relationships have taken on a new scope and emphasis. As Commonwealth heads of government affirmed in the Commonwealth Declaration adopted at their meeting in 1971, the association “provides many channels for continuing exchanges of knowledge and views on professional, cultural, economic, legal and political issues among members states. These relationships we foster and extend for we believe that our multinational association can expand human understanding and understanding among nations, assist in the elimination of discrimination based on differences of race, colour, and creed, maintain and strengthen personal liberty, contribute to the enrichment of life for all, and provide a powerful influence for peace among nations.” New Zealand, itself a country where different races live in harmony, sees in the Commonwealth a special opportunity for multi-racial co-operation and understanding.

The value of the association in providing a forum for the exchange of views between a large number of diverse nations, as set out in the Declaration, is illustrated at the Heads of Government Meetings, most recently in 1975 in Kingston, Jamaica, and in 1977 in London. Discussions are frank, informal, and private, ranging over topics which include changing power relationships, trade, monetary and other economic issues, security, nuclear testing, development assistance, foreign investment, international transport, and South African questions. The last two meetings have paid special attention to the world economic situation, especially the problems of developing nations. Periodic meetings of Commonwealth Ministers of Finance, Trade, Health, Law, and Education promote the exchange of views and functional co-operation in diverse fields of national activity. Ministerial meetings are supported by conferences and seminars of officials and professional and technical specialists.

The belief of member countries in the potential of the Commonwealth led to the establishment of a permanent Commonwealth Secretariat in London in 1965 to be the main agency for multilateral communication among Commonwealth governments. The Secretariat promotes consultation and disseminates information on matters of common concern, organises meetings and conferences, and co-ordinates many Commonwealth activities. Prominent among these is the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation. The fund is financed by voluntary contributions from most Commonwealth countries. Its primary purpose is to promote economic development through self-help and mutual assistance.

Besides contributing to the budget of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, New Zealand provides financial support to a number of other intergovernmental Commonwealth organisations which promote co-operation in specific areas. New Zealand also contributes to the Commonwealth Foundation, which was established at the same time as the Secretariat to promote close links in the professions throughout the Commonwealth. It has sponsored official and non-official Commonwealth professional organisations and strengthened the links between administrators, engineers, lawyers, accountants, scientists, and private individuals in the different Commonwealth organisations. Like the Secretariat it has provided a focus for Commonwealth activities and a basis for extending international co-operation.

New Zealand's Relations with Western Europe—New Zealand's dealings with the countries of Western Europe have tended to concentrate on trade matters and particularly on the question of access to the European Economic Community for New Zealand's agricultural exports, for this is of crucial importance to New Zealand.

However, the wider political and economic aspects of New Zealand's relations with the states of Western Europe, with which New Zealand shares many common interests, have come to assume greater significance, as we have acquired more knowledge and understanding of the issues affecting each other, and especially as the European Economic Community begins to play an increasing role in international affairs.

New Zealand shares a great deal in common with the countries of Western Europe in terms of historical experience, democratic political systems, and lifestyles. New Zealand's membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Authority (IEA) underlines the community of broad economic interests. The range of bilateral contacts between New Zealand and individual countries of Western Europe, in all fields, steadily expands, their continued development being one of the main aims of New Zealand's foreign policy.

New Zealand's Relations with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe—New Zealand's relations with the countries of Eastern Europe have developed considerably in recent years, especially in the field of trade. This growth has been reflected in the expansion of New Zealand's diplomatic representation in the area. New Zealand's Ambassador in Vienna is accredited to five East European countries, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and the German Democratic Republic. New Zealand's Ambassador inRome is accredited to Yugoslavia. Trade is also a major element in New Zealand's relations with the Soviet Union, which is now an important market for New Zealand's exports. The New Zealand Embassy in Moscow was reopened in 1973.

New Zealand and the Middle East—New Zealand has had a long association with the Middle East. The importance of the region in world political and economic affairs is well recognised and New Zealand has followed with close attention recent international attempts to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israel and its neighbours.

Since 1973, when Middle East members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emerged as a major political and economic force, the area has assumed more immediate significance for New Zealand's economic wellbeing. New Zealand's oil imports come overwhelmingly from the countries around the Gulf. Moreover, the growing wealth of the region, resulting from the recent substantial increases in the price of oil, has created a valuable market for New Zealand's exports, especially agricultural exports.

As a result of the growing importance of the Middle East, New Zealand has moved to increase the range of its contacts with Middle Eastern countries. At the same time countries in the Middle East, in assuming wider international interests, have themselves taken a closer interest in the South Pacific and expanded their diplomatic representation in this area. Thus New Zealand established resident missions in Iran and Iraq in 1975, and in Bahrain in 1977. The New Zealand Ambassador in Rome is accredited also to Egypt and Saudi Arabia and he and his staff visit those countries regularly. Both Egypt and Israel have set up embassies in Wellington, and Iran and Iraq have accredited to New Zealand their Ambassadors in Canberra and Jakarta respectively. Developing relations between New Zealand and the countries of the Middle East have also been marked by a growing number of visits each way, by Ministers, officials, and businessmen.

New Zealand and the Asian Area—Since the Second World War, and particularly since 1955, there has been a noteworthy growth in New Zealand's relations with the countries of the Asian/Pacific area. New Zealand has a direct interest in the maintenance of peace and the growth of prosperity in the area. It enjoys a close relationship with Japan, the Republic of Korea, and with the countries which make up the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN): Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. Since the normalisation of relations with the People's Republic of China in 1972, New Zealand's contacts with China have been increasing. New Zealand also enjoys long-established ties with the countries of South Asia (particularly through the Commonwealth connection) and Burma.

Trade with Asia is becoming more and more important to New Zealand. Private initiative, with Government assistance, has been able to develop new markets, new products, new selling processes, and new economic and commercial relationships. A pattern of regular economic consultations with our main trading partners has been developed; bilateral economic agreements have been concluded.

New Zealand's growing interests and involvement in Asia are reflected in the changing pattern of its diplomatic representation. Prior to 1955, when New Zealand opened a post in Singapore, it had only one diplomatic mission in the region, in Tokyo. Representation has now been established in all of the ASEAN countries, in New Delhi, Peking, Hong Kong, and Seoul. Many of these missions are accredited to other Asian capitals. The network thus created enables New Zealand to assess external events in the light of this country's own interests and needs, and to work directly with other countries in areas of common concern. New Zealand has also developed its political contacts with countries of the area in other important ways. Exchanges of visits by Heads of State and Government Ministers and parliamentarians have increased, and the development of regular bilateral consultations has also been encouraged.

New Zealand has placed particular emphasis on supporting regional organisations for co-operation and consultation in both the political and development fields. It is one of a group of nations closely associated with ASEAN, which it sees as a force for stability and economic development in South-East Asia. It has initiated a number of joint projects with ASEAN for development and trade co-operation. New Zealand is an associate member of the South-east Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO), and a member of the Ministerial Conference for the Economic Development of South-east Asia (MEDSEA), an organisation which is in the process of redefining its role following changes of government in the countries of Indo-China.

The degree of cultural interchange between New Zealand and the countries of Asia has expanded steadily. Where once New Zealanders looked largely to Britain for cultural inspiration and experience, now their horizons have broadened. Increased contacts with Asia have brought with them an awareness of what the cultural background of the countries there can offer New Zealand. Professional bodies, sporting associations, cultural groups, and universities today have links with similar organisations in Asia, as well as with more traditional partners such as Britain and Australia. The development of civil air links, and the concurrent growth of tourism, have also helped to bring a wider range of contacts.

Nowhere within the Pacific Basin has New Zealand's adaptation to changed circumstances been more complete than in its relationship with Japan. Today that association is one of the most important that New Zealand has and it is friendly and rewarding for both sides. Its elements are varied—trade, consultation, co-operation, and a growing range of cultural, educational, sporting, and personal ties. In many ways, the conditions for a developing trading relationship are ideal, for the two countries are located in different hemispheres, their economies are complementary, and each has in abundance some things that the other needs. Despite these advantages, commercial exchanges have not been completely straightforward, and over a number of years New Zealand has pressed (to little avail) for improved conditions of access for certain important commodities, including beef and dairy products. Even so, Japan today is New Zealand's third biggest market and its fourth largest source of supply. For Japan, New Zealand does not occupy so important a place but on both sides there are expectations of continued and expanding trade and of closer involvement together in other settings. Meanwhile, the steady growth in the extent and cordiality of New Zealand's relations with the People's Republic of China further illustrates New Zealanders' changing perceptions of Asia. China is now our third largest market in Asia and is increasingly important to New Zealand as a major power with a leading role in Asia and in the “Third World”.

New Zealand and the South Pacific—New Zealand has a long history of interest and involvement in the South Pacific. In the latter part of the 19th century Prime Minister Richard Seddon harboured ambitions of a South Pacific empire controlled by New Zealand, and as a result of pressure from Seddon the administration of the Cook Islands and Niue, which were British colonial possessions, was handed over to New Zealand in 1901. The number of New Zealand Pacific dependencies increased when, following the establishment of the League of Nations, Western Samoa, which had been occupied by New Zealand troops at the outbreak of the First World War, became a mandated territory under the administration of New Zealand. In 1925 the Tokelau Islands (now known as Tokelau) then part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, were ceded by the United Kingdom to New Zealand.

Despite its geographical situation, the acquisition of overseas dependencies in the South Pacific and the ethnic kinship of the Maori and the Polynesian peoples, New Zealand's present identity as a South Pacific country was slow in developing for a number of reasons. Culturally, New Zealand has been closer to Western Europe than to the Pacific. For many years almost all of New Zealand's exports went to the United Kingdom. Politically, New Zealand's outlook was oriented towards Europe and, more recently, South-east Asia. Also the Pacific Islands were, and in some cases still are, administered by other countries.

But during the 1960s there was a dramatic emergence of new nations in the South Pacific. New Zealand encouraged this development in its own territories.

In Western Samoa, which had become a United Nations Trust Territory administered by New Zealand, political and constitutional development was carried forward in accordance with the wishes of the Samoan people. This culminated in the establishment of the independent State of Western Samoa on 1 January 1962. On 4 August 1965 the Cook Islands became a self-governing nation in free association with New Zealand. In an exchange of letters between the New Zealand Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Norman Kirk, and the Premier of the Cook Islands, Sir Albert Henry, in April 1973 clarifying the special relationship between the Cook Islands and New Zealand, it was agreed that there were to be no legal fetters of any kind upon the freedom of the Cook Islands to make their own laws and control their own Constitution. Although New Zealand has a statutory responsibility for the external affairs and defence of the Cook Islands, it is intended that the Cook Islands be free to pursue their own policies and interests in these as well as other areas. Cook Islanders remain New Zealand citizens under the Cook Islands Constitution Act 1964.

Niue became self-governing in free association with New Zealand on Constitution Day, 19 October 1974. It is written into the Niue Constitution Act 1974 that New Zealand will continue to be responsible for the external affairs and defence of Niue, that Niueans will remain New Zealand citizens, and that New Zealand will provide necessary economic and administrative assistance.

Tokelau is still included within the boundaries of New Zealand and is administered under the authority of the Tokelau Islands Act 1948 and its amendments. Tokelauans are New Zealand citizens. By agreement with the Government of Western Samoa the Office for Tokelau Affairs is based in Apia and handles Tokelauan transactions with the outside world, especially with New Zealand. Decisions about day-to-day living in Tokelau are made by the village councils.

The developments in New Zealand's territories are part of a wider pattern of political evolution in the region. In 1968 Nauru became an independent republic; in 1970 Fiji became independent; and in the same year Tonga rejoined the Commonwealth. In 1975 Papua New Guinea became fully independent after being self-governing since December 1973. In 1978 the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu (formerly the Ellice Islands) became independent. Independence for the Gilbert Islands is expected in 1979, and for the New Hebrides in 1980.

It is natural that New Zealand and its South Pacific neighbours should have become very closely associated. One important reason has been the movement of Pacific peoples into New Zealand. Cook Islanders, Niueans, and Tokelauans are New Zealand citizens and move freely back and forth. New Zealand's historical association with Western Samoa, which is reflected in the Treaty of Friendship signed in August 1962, and its close association with the Kingdom of Tonga, has resulted in a flow of immigrants and visitors under work permit schemes from both countries.

New Zealand has also played an active role in building up regional co-operation in the South Pacific. A major step in this direction was the creation of the South Pacific Forum, which now comprises the independent and self-governing countries of the South Pacific, Fiji, Nauru, Tonga, Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the Gilbert Islands, together with Australia and New Zealand which, at the invitation of New Zealand, met for the first time in Wellington in August 1971. Since then meetings have been held in Canberra, Suva, Apia, Rarotonga, Nukualofa, Nauru, Port Moresby, and Niue.

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

At the Canberra session of the South Pacific Forum in 1972 members agreed to establish the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC) to deal with trade and related matters. The main purpose of the SPEC is to advise Forum members on ways of promoting regional trade and free trade among Island members and to encourage collaboration in areas such as regional transport which will assist the economic development of the Island members. The headquarters of the SPEC are in Suva, Fiji.

The South Pacific Commission, created in 1947 by the Canberra Agreement of which New Zealand is a signatory, is the other major regional body. Representatives from 22 governments and territorial administrations from within the South Pacific Commission comprise the South Pacific Conference. The Conference which meets annually decides the work programme of the Commission. Since its establishment the Commission has helped to build up a sense of regional identity and it has accomplished much in promoting the economic and social welfare of the South Pacific peoples. It is primarily a technical assistance organisation. Its budget in 1978 totalled $4.4 million. The main regular contributors to the budget are the participating governments in the area—the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, Australia, Fiji, Nauru, Western Samoa, Papua New Guinea, and New Zealand. Each participating government's contribution is levied as a percentage of the annual budget. Other member governments also make contributions on an irregular basis.

The United Nations and its specialised agencies are also an important source of technical assistance in the South Pacific. The independent countries of the region are members of various UN bodies, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has a regional office in Fiji.

New Zealand and Australia—New Zealand's most comprehensive bilateral relationship is with Australia. Geographical proximity reinforces the important historical, cultural, and Commonwealth ties between New Zealand and Australia that have given rise to this unusually close and mutually beneficial relationship. New Zealand established a diplomatic office in Australia in 1943, very early in its diplomatic history, and in 1944 the Canberra Pact was signed. This paved the way for a tradition of joint consultation and co-operation that reflects the interdependence of the two countries' interests and the goodwill and friendship of their peoples. In matters of foreign policy, in defence and in the economic field, the degree of co-operation also reflects the importance of each country to the other and a need for continuing close working contacts. Regular and increasingly frequent ministerial and official meetings have taken place, with a minimum of formality, to cover almost the entire range of government activity. Moreover, the two countries are bound together by innumerable personal contacts, facilitated by freedom of travel across the Tasman, and by institutionalised links in business, finance, education, the professions, and in nearly all fields of national activity.

New Zealand and Australia share a foreign policy objective in acting to promote stability and development in the South Pacific and South-east Asian regions of their immediate vicinity, as well as a more general interest in co-ordinating their positions on major international political and economic questions of current concern, in the United Nations, the Commonwealth, GATT, and elsewhere. In the economic context, Australia is a major trading partner for New Zealand, Australia's largest single market for manufactured exports. Trade has significantly expanded and the two economies become increasingly related under the New Zealand - Australia Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), dating from 1965–66. In the defence field, the former ANZAC partners continue to co-operate closely, both in relation to training programmes and exercises and the provision of equipment and other supplies, and in terms of the broader issues of defence policy, especially in their common membership of ANZUS.

In 1978 the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. B. E. Talboys, paid an extensive visit to Australia. During the visit, Mr Talboys and the Prime Minister of Australia made a joint press statement (the Nareen Declaration) which underlined the determination of both Governments to co-operate and consult closely in many fields. The Nareen Declaration also provided for the establishment of an Australia - New Zealand Foundation in both countries to promote the bilateral relationship publicly.

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

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

This comprehensive bilateral relationship finds expression in political, strategic, economic, and cultural fields. Under the ANZUS arrangements initiated in 1951, New Zealand looks to the United States for fundamental assistance in the maintenance of its national and regional security. In turn, where national interests coincide, New Zealand is able to offer the United States active support for its constructive international role and to provide a friendly and stable influence in the South Pacific. On the economic side, bilateral trade has expanded to the extent that the United States is now the second largest market for New Zealand's exports and the third largest source of imports. Regular intergovernmental consultations are held to review the trading relationship, which recently has been weighted in favour of the United States. Programmes for scientific and technical co-operation, and academic and cultural exchanges, serve to maintain an awareness of New Zealand in the United States and to promote a vigorous and beneficial interchange of ideas and experience.

New Zealand and Canada, through a common British heritage and long association in the Commonwealth, have traditionally enjoyed a close and special informal relationship, with long-established bonds of friendship between the New Zealand and Canadian people. Since New Zealand established diplomatic representation in Canada in 1942, there have been many ministerial and official exchanges in a broad range of fields in which the two countries' basic compatibility and similarity of attitude have provided invaluable opportunities for bilateral consultation and co-operation. New Zealand and Canada have also built up a record of co-operation on many international issues, particularly in Commonwealth and United Nations contexts. New Zealand's particular interest and involvement in the South Pacific, and Canada's in the Caribbean, have provided a useful basis for the exchange of experience, and both countries share a presence and a direct interest in the affairs of the Pacific Basin.

Canada is one of New Zealand's major trading partners, being at present the second largest market for New Zealand beef and a growing market for lamb. Regular intergovernmental consultations help to keep the trading relationship under review and provide a basis for negotiation on specific difficulties. They also facilitate co-operation on economic and financial policy matters of wider international importance.

New Zealand's relations with the Caribbean have been concerned largely with mutual Commonwealth interests and with a substantial export trade, mainly in dairy products. Since September 1974, the New Zealand High Commissioner in Ottawa has been cross-accredited to Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, and Barbados. The sole resident representation is in Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago). New Zealand's assistance is being extended to these four Commonwealth countries and to the multilateral Caribbean Development Bank under a modest aid programme.

New Zealand's contacts with the countries of Latin America, limited in the past because of geographical orientation and widely different historical and cultural backgrounds, have developed considerably in the 1970s. A substantial growth in trade preceded the establishment of New Zealand representation in Chile and Peru in 1972, and in 1974 diplomatic relations were entered into with Mexico. In 1978 the resident Ambassadors in Lima and Santiago were accredited to Ecuador and Brazil respectively. Peru has in recent years been New Zealand's largest export market in Latin America, and a major market for New Zealand dairy produce. Other significant Latin American markets for New Zealand dairy produce are Mexico, Ecuador (from which New Zealand has imported bananas), Venezuela, and some of the Central American republics (notably El Salvador and Costa Rica). As part of the continuing process of diversifying its economic relations, New Zealand has recently devoted increased attention to exploring the possibilities for expanding trade with the countries of Latin America. In recognition of the growing political importance of the region as a whole and particularly of the largest countries, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, opportunities are also being taken to enhance bilateral relations. Several official visits have taken place in recent years. At the private level, New Zealanders have long been interested in, and frequent travellers through, the countries of South America.

In the field of overseas assistance, New Zealand maintains a modest but important technical co-operation programme in Peru, under which New Zealand experts are helping in the development of key areas of Peruvian agriculture. New Zealand is also assisting in the organisation of the Peruvian National Parks.

New Zealand in the United Nations—Successive New Zealand Governments have strongly supported the development of the United Nations as a major instrument for maintaining peace and security, for developing friendly relations among countries, for promoting international co-operation aimed at solving economic and social problems, and for ensuring respect for human rights.

New Zealand has consequently played an active and prominent role in the various areas of United Nations activity.

International Security—At San Francisco in 1945 the New Zealand Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, argued forcefully but unsuccessfully for the elimination of the Security Council veto and for a strengthening of the collective security provision of the Charter. Since then New Zealand has actively supported the development of the United Nations' capacity for peacekeeping activities and worked consistently for international arms control and disarmament measures. New Zealand contributed forces to the United Nations Command in Korea, military observers to the United Nations Observer Groups in Palestine, Kashmir, and the Lebanon, and a civilian police unit to the United Nations peace keeping force in Cyprus. In recent years New Zealand has been closely involved in moves to promote the cessation of all forms of nuclear testing, as a key step towards halting the nuclear arms race. It has played an active part in international discussions on disarmament at the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly in May and June 1978.

New Zealand served a 2-year term on the Security Council in 1954–55 and a 1-year term in 1966.

Economic and Social Activities—There has been increasing emphasis in recent years on making use of the United Nations as a forum to help resolve the formidable economic and social problems that face the world. This has been done both in the regular organs of the United Nations, such as the General Assembly, and the Economic and Social Council and its functional and regional commissions, and at special conferences, such as those on the environment (at Stockholm in 1972), population (at Bucharest in 1974), food (at Rome in 1974), the role of women (at Mexico in 1975), water (at Mar del Plata in 1977), and racism (at Geneva in August 1978). During 1974 and 1975 Special Sessions of the General Assembly were held specifically to discuss development issues. The former enunciated the Declaration and Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order.

During 1977 New Zealand served on the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme, the Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on the Status of Women. New Zealand also participated actively in the seventh session of the Conference on the Law of the Sea held in April and May 1978 in Geneva, and in August and September in New York.

Specialised Agencies—New Zealand is a member of all the specialised agencies, and is also a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which, though not strictly a specialised agency, exists under the aegis of the United Nations. New Zealand's contributions to the regular budgets of the agencies, which are based for the most part on a scale of assessment similar to that used in the United Nations itself, in total considerably exceed our contribution to the United Nations' regular budget. In 1977, for example, our contributions to the budgets of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) alone totalled US$1,212,273.

Convinced of the value of the form of international co-operation that the agencies represent, New Zealand participates actively in their work. In the case of the technical agencies, there are direct benefits to New Zealand in membership. Membership of the Universal Postal Union, for example, is essential to facilitate the efficient international movement of mails to and from this country; and the International Telecommunication Union works to promote the most rational and efficient operation of world-wide telecommunications services. The World Meteorological Organisation is the medium for establishing a world-wide network for the rapid exchange of meteorological information, which is of particular value to remote island countries like New Zealand. The ILO is concerned with protecting the basic dignities and freedoms of the wage earner and brings together representatives of governments, employers, and workers to frame international conventions on working and living conditions.

In addition to its contributions to the regular budgets of the agencies, New Zealand gives voluntary assistance in the form of further monetary grants, the services of experts to developing countries (for example in agriculture, physiotherapy, police work, forestry, and education) and donations of equipment or commodities. In 1978 New Zealand served on the Council of FAO and was elected to the Executive Board of UNESCO. It also participated in all the major meetings of the agencies.

New Zealand's membership of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Finance Corporation allows this country to participate in international efforts to increase the stability of international trade and promote the economic development of the underdeveloped areas of the world. It also serves to strengthen New Zealand's own economic position by providing access to more varied sources of capital for capital projects or for balance of payments purposes.

New Zealand is also a foundation member of the Asian Development Bank, established in 1967 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to foster economic growth and co-operation in the Asian/Pacific region.

New Zealand has supported United Nations agency activity which will help the social and economic development of the Pacific Islands. Examples of such projects are the work of WHO in eradicating yaws and tuberculosis; FAO's efforts to control the rhinoceros beetle which ravages much of the islands' coconut crops, and its support for a regional fisheries development agency; the establishment by UNESCO of a curriculum development unit at the University of the South Pacific; the placement in Suva of a development advisory team backed by ESCAP and the specialised agencies; the operation of a telecommunications training school set up under UN Development Programme (UNDP) auspices in Suva; and the joint venture under the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in conjunction with regional organisations to establish a comprehensive environmental management programme in the region.

New Zealand has in the past served on the governing bodies of UNESCO and the Universal Postal Union (UPU), as well as FAO, and was a member of the Executive Board of WHO from 1972 to 1974.

New Zealand's Defence Policies—After the Second World War the international scene was clouded for many years by the Cold War. New Zealand was affected by the tensions of the period and took steps to provide for its defence in concert with its allies. As a country with limited resources, New Zealand alone could not expect to defend its extensive but isolated territory against aggression by any militarily significant power. It therefore supported efforts to give effect to the provisions of the United Nations Charter which looked to the creation of a universal system of collective security. In the meantime it accepted that it should act in concert with like-minded countries in order to strengthen its security in its own region.

Recent developments in international affairs—especially the ending of the war in Vietnam and the rapprochement between the United States and China—have led to a relaxation of tensions in the region that has lessened the likelihood that New Zealand might be involved in war. Changes in United States policy, which now emphasises that the primary responsibility for long-term stability in Asia rests with the countries of the area, and the large reduction of the British defence presence outside Europe, have given new impetus to regional initiative. The general easing of tension has given New Zealand and other small nations greater freedom of action while reinforcing the requirement for closer collaboration on a regional basis. It has also meant that New Zealand's relations with the countries of South-east Asia are no longer regulated primarily by defence considerations.

By means of staff exchanges, exercises, training programmes, and the provision of facilities under its Defence Mutual Assistance Programme, New Zealand co-operates with several countries in the South Pacific and South-east Asia in building up one another's defence capacity, thereby contributing to regional security. The central objective for New Zealand is the maintenance of stability and peaceful development in the South Pacific, New Zealand's strategic neighbourhood.

ANZUS—There is no direct military threat to New Zealand's security. In the unlikely event of a threat materialising, New Zealand would be able to turn for assistance to its partners in the ANZUS Pact. The tri-partite security treaty between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States came into force on 29 April 1952. It assured New Zealand and Australia of American support in the event of aggression in the Pacific.

ANZUS should be seen as a durable expression of a strongly-based community of interest and attitude among the three democracies that are parties to it. The close relationship among the three countries is reflected in the informality and ease of their consultation under the ANZUS Treaty. Meetings of the Council of Ministers are generally held once a year.

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

The Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom forces stationed in Malaysia and Singapore under the Five Power Defence Arrangements were grouped into an ANZUK Force. The Australian Government decided in 1973 to withdraw its ground forces while retaining two RAAF Squadrons in Malaysia. The ANZUK Force was disbanded in 1974 and the New Zealand contingent based in Singapore became known as New Zealand Force South-east Asia. Later the United Kingdom Government withdrew its forces from Singapore.

The New Zealand Government has decided that, although the Singapore Government has indicated that the Force is welcome to remain, as a matter of principle the Force should return home to New Zealand as soon as practicable. No date has been set however.

SEATO—Australia, Britain, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States signed the South-east Asia Collective Defence Treaty, or the Manila Treaty, on 8 September 1954. The South-east Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) established under the treaty, in addition to military planning, undertook activities intended to foster the security and stability of the regional member countries.

The ending of the Vietnam war in 1975 and other developments in the region naturally led Governments in South-east Asia to reassess many of their attitudes and policies. The SEATO Council of Ministers decided at its annual meeting in New York on 24 September 1975 that, while the Organisation had over the years made a useful contribution to stability and development in the region, it should be phased out. This process was completed on 30 June 1977. No move was made, however, to abrogate the Treaty.

Defence Policy Review—In 1978 the New Zealand Government completed a comprehensive review of defence policy objectives. These as summarised in the Defence Review White Paper are:

NEW ZEALAND'S AID AND OTHER RESOURCES FLOWS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES—During 1977–78 Official Development Assistance (ODA) amounted to $51.1 million or 0.36 percent of GNP—a decline from the previous year's figure ($55.3 million) that reflected the continued restraint on official aid spending. As in the previous year the Government resolved to hold the expenditure of public monies—ODA included—in the light of the country's economic difficulties. Bilateral and regional assistance totalled $43.1 million, with $8 million going to multilateral institutions. The bilateral/multilateral ratio was 84:16.

The South Pacific continued to be the main region of concentration for New Zealand bilateral and regional assistance, accounting for $29.3 million or 68 percent of the total bilateral allocations. South and South-east Asia also received a substantial portion of ODA—$12 million. The total programme involves the skills and experience of hundreds of New Zealanders, together with New Zealand capital and training assistance, all of which are carefully geared to respond to the aid partners' own developmental priorities.

Total Resource Flow—New Zealand's official development assistance, virtually all administered by the External Aid Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forms the major part of the total flow of resources from New Zealand to developing countries—the transfer of goods, services, and capital. The total picture includes private flows and the grants and activities of voluntary agencies. For the year ended 31 March 1978, the total flow of resources was estimated at $75,485,000, comprising:

The figure of $75.5 million represented 0.54 percent of Gross National Product (GNP), which compared with the international target of 1 percent of GNP for donor countries' total flow of resources to developing countries.

Bilateral ODA 1977–78—Under its bilateral (government-to-government) aid programmes, New Zealand responds where possible to the developmental needs of selected countries, mainly in the South Pacific and South and South-east Asia, with small programmes also in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Hundreds of projects are undertaken with inputs of New Zealand expertise and/or material and capital resources. The projects can vary considerably in expenditure and duration, with emphasis on productive sector development such as livestock and pasture improvement programmes and assistance with crops and the development of forestry and fisheries resources. Advisers may be assigned to projects for varying times, from a few weeks to several years. During 1977–78 the bilateral aid programme used 534 advisers on assignments averaging 4½ months. Training within New Zealand or at “third country” insititutions is provided for under bilateral agreements to supplement the transfer of New Zealand expertise to the developing countries. There were about 600 holders of training or study awards in New Zealand in 1977–78. This training is linked with specific requirements in the recipient countries and, increasingly, is related to the maintenance of development projects involving a New Zealand input. Bilateral programmes in the Pacific and South-east Asia are supplemented by programmes promoting regional development co-operation, particularly in the fields of education, transport, and communications. Bilateral assistance also includes commodity and distress relief.

A country breakdown of bilateral ODA in 1977–78 shows the direction and scope of New Zealand assistance:

Multilateral ODA 1977–78—The multilateral programme enables New Zealand to make a contribution to development work which would usually be beyond the scope of the bilateral aid programme, either in terms of the scale of the projects or in their ability to help countries beyond the regions of concentration of the bilateral aid effort.

Multilateral assistance amounted to $8,022,000 in 1977–78. Major recipients included the United Nations Development Programme ($1,250,000), the Asian Development Bank ($1 million), the World Food Programme ($738,000), United Nations Children's Emergency Fund ($700,000), and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation ($600,000).

Non-official Flows—The Government maintains a close association with private groups and organisations interested in development assistance through bi-monthly meetings with New Zealand voluntary agencies, and through the Advisory Committee on External Aid and Development, established in September 1975 to examine, debate, publicise, and advise on New Zealand assistance, public and private, to developing countries. Under the Voluntary Agency Support Scheme the Government provides a subsidy for approved projects undertaken by New Zealand private agencies in developing countries. Government assistance to voluntary agencies, including grants to CORSO, and Volunteer Service Abroad, amounted to $242,745 in 1977–78. Estimates of private grants overseas made by voluntary agencies for development activities rose slightly to $5.84 million in 1977–78, a figure based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The figure is probably underestimated, given the difficulty of covering all agencies which meet primary development criteria.

THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW ZEALAND: Introduction—The history of the present constitution dates back to the declaration of British sovereignty in 1840. By the Treaty of Waitangi, certain Maori chiefs ceded their sovereignty to that of the British Crown in exchange for guarantees contained in the Treaty. Territory not included in the Treaty was claimed on the ground of discovery. Somewhat surprisingly, the constitution was, and is, wholly Anglo-Saxon in its origin and took no account of Maori custom and usage.

From 1840 until the grant of responsible government in 1856 the colony was subject to gubernatorial rule. Attempts to persuade the Imperial government to establish representative institutions bore fruit in 1846 with the enactment of a Constitution Act (never fully implemented) superseded by a further Constitution Act in 1852 which created a bicameral General Assembly with limited powers and 6 provinces each with its own executive and unicameral legislature or provincial council. The system of government was unitary however—the General Assembly could legislate in areas in which the provinces had jurisdiction and could amend or annul provincial ordinances.

The 1852 Act constituted the governor as part of the General Assembly with the power to summon, prorogue, and dissolve it and to assent or refuse the assent to legislation passed by it, but the actual form of the executive government was omitted from the Act and left to the will of the governors and the Colonial Office. Moreover, the Act was silent about the appointment and tenure of the judges, and matters normally contained in a constitutional document were left to be decided by ordinary legislation.

Amendments to the 1852 Act stemming from political development reflect New Zealand's transition from colonial to fully-independent status within the period 1840–1974. Contemporary concern about the constitution centres on the operation of, and the balance between, the legislature and the executive rather than in the broader context of the merits of monarchy or republic. The result of the 1978 General Election has given impetus to the argument for a system of proportional representation in elections for members of Parliament and it seems likely that New Zealanders will concern themselves for some time with the fine tuning of existing political institutions rather than with the system itself.

The Constitution—The constitution is not a single written instrument granted to, or by, the people but a miscellany of statutory and customary law welded together and given coherence by the operation and observance of formal unwritten rules known as The Conventions. The constitutional framework is erected on, and maintained by, the ordinary law as opposed to a supreme or basic law such as that found in most jurisdictions.

Certain statutes and statute-derived law have important constitutional significance. Among the more important are:

Constitution Act 1852—creation of Parliament;

Bill of Rights 1688;

Habeas Corpus Act 1689;

Electoral Act 1956—election of members of Parliament;

Legislature Act 1908—declaration of powers, privilege of Parliament;

Economic Stabilisation Act 1948—wide-ranging powers of the Government to affect socioeconomic activity;

Public Safety Conservation Act 1932—states of emergency, powers of executive;

Letters Patent and Instructions 1917–1919—exercise of prerogative powers by Governor-General.

Such laws exist by force of the ordinary legislative process because of the basic canon of the legislative primacy of Parliament—the legal capacity of the legislature to make and unmake laws and the self-imposed collateral incapacity of any court or forum to impeach the validity of the legislature's exercise of that power when expressed as an Act of Parliament.

Although not as important in New Zealand as they are in the United Kingdom, the personal prerogative powers of the Crown, almost all of which are exercisable by the Governor-General, remain part of constitutional law. A prerogative power may be abrogated only by statute.

On the foregoing basis, it is open to Parliament to change or abolish the constitutional framework on which it rests its primacy, and for a later Parliament to reverse that change, one aspect of the rule being that one Parliament cannot bind its successors. Consequently, the five provisions of the Electoral Act are entrenched by Section 189 in a political, rather than a strict legal, sense. The section could not act as a bar to the repeal of itself by simple majority, and thereafter the repeal or amendment of one or more of the five sections, also by simple majority.

On paper, major changes to the constitutional frame-work could be affected with comparative ease and speed, but constitutional history shows that those changes which have been made reflected shifts in social or political attitudes already evident.

PARLIAMENT AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES—The Constitution Act created a bicameral General Assembly empowered to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of New Zealand. Legislative competence was restricted, e.g., laws enacted were not to be repugnant to those of England; laws did not have extra-territorial effect; certain laws needed the Sovereign's assent; and all were subject to Royal disallowance. It was only with the passage of the Constitution Amendment Act 1947 (U.K.) and the Statute of Westminister Adoption Act 1947 (N.Z.) that the New Zealand Parliament obtained plenary legislative power, any residual doubts on the matter having been removed by a further amendment to the 1852 Act in 1973.

Until 1950, Parliament consisted of the Governor-General, the Legislative Council, and the House of Representatives. Despite repeated proposals for reform the council remained an appointive chamber, and the decline in its capacity as a curb on the lower House and the Government was accelerated by the partisan nature of the appointments made. Each ministry sought to ensure that its supporters were in a majority. The council's demise was assured when the National Party, which had campaigned for abolition, was returned as the Government in the 1949 General Election. The necessary legislation was passed by both Houses and the council ceased to exist on 1 January 1951. Although it was intended that the council should be replaced by an elected second chamber nothing came of the idea and it is highly unlikely that New Zealand will revert to bicameralism.

Parliament now consists of the Governor-General (the Queen when resident in New Zealand), and the 92-member House of Representatives. The role of the Governor-General, as part of the General Assembly, is purely formal and for all practical purposes “Parliament” is synonymous with “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 forbids the House to allocate public funds for any purpose unless first recommended by the Governor-General. Although the reasons for this provision are historic, it is also used by governments to defeat legislation brought forward by individual members which ministers are unwilling to support or adopt. On the other hand, the law forbids the Crown to tax citizens without express parliamentary approval.

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

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

The House meets, as Parliament, in answer to a summons from the Governor-General. Sessions of Parliament are marked by a formal opening (the Government's legislative programme is described in the Speech from the Throne read by the Governor-General) and a closing prorogation by proclamation. Unless the House, by resolution made under the authority of the Legislature Act (1977 Amendment), carries forward business to the next session, all business before the House on prorogation lapses. Parliament is dissolved by the Governor-General rather than have it expire by efflux of time.

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 of the House are given a full opportunity to debate any aspect of a government's proposals. Control of the debates and the conduct of members is vested in the Speaker, whose rulings are binding unless overturned by the House.

Detailed scrutiny of legislation and facets of executive activity, e.g., expenditure of public money, is carried out by select committees consisting of a small number of members, usually 7, which report their findings and recommendations to the House. Not all legislation is referred to committees, but the tendency is increasing. This is intended to enable the public and interested bodies to make submissions, in the expectation that better laws will result.

In the context of the party system, it is very unlikely that the Opposition would be in a position to bring down a government by means of a no-confidence vote—there is one recorded instance of a successful no-confidence vote in the history of the New Zealand Parliament, and that was before the development of the party system as it is now. The strength of the parties, especially that of the National and Labour Parties, is so great that many of the rules and customs of the House are based on their being 2 parties only in the House. The presence of a third party member, as at present, has raised a number of problems in relation to speaking times, membership of select committees, and so forth.

Because of the growth of a largely two-party system and the importance that the parties have assumed within the political framework, the party caucus (a meeting of each party's members of Parliament in closed session at regular intervals, once a week when Parliament is in session) is a primary means of developing policies and tactics. Caucus committees of both the National and Labour Parties travel around the country frequently, investigating issues of interest or concern to them. Although the existence of the caucuses and their committees is not recognised by the law, indirect recognition has been given, e.g., travelling allowances are payable to members when travelling as member of a caucus committee.

In the exercise of their functions and powers, the Speaker and the Chairman of Committees are assisted by permanent officials, headed by the Clerk of the House, charged with the administration of the House and the provision of advice on parliamentary law and custom.

The procedure for fixing the salaries and allowances of members and ministers was changed in 1977. Responsibility now rests with the Higher Salaries Commission established by Act of the same name. The following table lists the salaries payable as at January 1979:

The following allowances are also paid:

The rate at which an electorate allowance is paid depends on the nature of each member's electorate, e.g., urban, rural, or semi-rural.

In addition to the foregoing allowances, a once-only setting up allowance is paid to members elected for the first time. The current rate is $250.

The Crown and The Governor-General—Constitutional law vests the executive power in the Crown, i.e., the Monarch acting through, or with the advice of, responsible ministers. Primarily because of political developments within the British Empire and, later, the Commonwealth, changes in the substantive law have left the constitutional position, but not the role, of the Monarch in some doubt. By virtue of the Royal Titles Act 1974, the present Monarch is styled “ ... Elizabeth the Second ... Queen of New Zealand ...” which, taken together with changes made to the Constitution Act in 1973, tend to suggest that the Queen of New Zealand is a separate legal entity from that of the United Kingdom, a suggestion which has found support in a 1976 Supreme Court decision. If such is the case, English or Imperial law which was thought to be part of New Zealand's law, e.g., the Regency Act 1937–53, may have ceased to be so.

Although not a viceroy, the Governor-General (appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the New Zealand Prime Minister for a term, normally 5 years) may lawfully exercise most of the Royal powers and functions, whether derived from the general law or statute. The 1917 Instructions, reinforced by a strong convention, require him to accept and act on the advice of his New Zealand ministers, although a reserve power retained by the instructions would enable him to reject advice if he believed that a government was intending to act improperly or unconstitutionally. Recent events in Australia have demonstrated how controversial the use of the reserve powers can be, and it is likely that a Governor-General would seek a political, rather than a legal, solution.

As part of the General Assembly, the Governor-General summons, prorogues, and dissolves Parliament, and his assent to Bills passed by the House is necessary to transform them into Acts. As the Monarch's representative, he is the head of the Executive and his participation, albeit formal in nature, is required to give legal effect to decisions made by the Government or individual ministers.

The Executive Government—The governance of New Zealand is executed by Ministers of the Crown in the name of, and on behalf of, the Monarch. The dual conventions that ministers are responsible to Parliament for their official acts and those of their officials and that the Government is responsible for its acts have been translated, indirectly, into statute. The Civil List Act 1959, Section 6, provides that no person may be appointed or remain a minister or member of the Executive Council unless he is, concurrently, a member of Parliament.

Following a General Election, the leader of the party which has, or is most likely to secure, a majority of seats in the House is invited by the Governor-General to accept the office of Prime Minister and form a ministry. Although the selection process has varied between the two major parties, the respective leaders have final responsibility for the allocation of portfolios. Acting on the new Prime Minister's advice, the Governor-General appoints a number of members of Parliament as ministers with responsibility for one or more areas of government administration (portfolios), although in rare cases ministers are appointed without portfolio. In addition, a few members are appointed as parliamentary under-secretaries to assist ministers in specific areas. Under-secretaries are neither ministers nor members of the Executive Council.

The Executive Council, constituted under the 1917 Instructions, consists of the ministers, any two of whom together with the person presiding (normally the Governor-General) form a quorum. The council is the legal vehicle for the promulgation of a government's decisions which are intended to form part of the law. It is also one of the primary means whereby the Government tenders formal advice to the Governor-General.

The present membership of the council is 19.

Unlike the council, the Cabinet owes its existence solely to convention. Although both institutions have the same membership (the Governor-General is a member of neither), their respective functions differ markedly. It is the Cabinet which determines or approves a government's legislative and administrative proposals and policies and co-ordinates the work of ministers.

To facilitate this process, a number of Cabinet committees have been set up, consisting of ministers whose responsibilities are related to the subject matter covered by the committees. Present committees include those dealing with economic affairs, expenditure, communications, Government works, legislation and parliamentary questions, social affairs, state services, and transport. Each committee has power, within its terms of reference, to make decisions and some are supported by inter-departmental groups of officials.

One important feature of the Cabinet is the informality of its proceedings and their confidentiality, thus allowing for a consensus of views to emerge without the need, in most cases, to take a vote. Cabinet discussion and agreement ensures the Government's support in the House for a minister's legislative or other proposals and supports the convention of collective responsibility.

The Cabinet Office is responsible for the servicing and co-ordination of the Cabinet and its committees to ensure their smooth functioning, as well as providing liaison and advice within the interdepartmental framework. The Secretary of the Cabinet is also Clerk of the Executive Council.

The Judiciary—New Zealand has inherited the strong British tradition of an independent judiciary seen as a bulwark against unnecessary intrusion by the State in the lives of citizens. One means of maintaining that tradition is to provide superior court judges with security of tenure. Accordingly, the law provides that Supreme Court judges are appointed “... during good behaviour ...” and are removable by the Governor-General in answer to an address from the House. Moreover, the salaries of judges cannot be reduced while they remain in office. Supreme Court judges must retire at the age of 72 but may be reappointed for a further 3 years.

Stipendiary magistrates are appointed, as with Supreme Court judges, by the Governor-General on ministerial advice and are removable by him, without the need for an address from the House, for misbehaviour or inability. Although a magistrate's security of tenure is not as entrenched as that of a judge, nevertheless, the convention against arbitrary removal ensures his independence of action in the exercise of his judicial functions.

Judicial officers of specialist courts enjoy the tenure provisions of judges or magistrates depending on the ranking of their court within the judicial structure.

New Zealand courts apply the primacy of Parliament doctrine which, in the judicial context, means that a court will not question the validity of what purports to be an Act of Parliament. However, the doctrine has never prevented them from declaring legislation made by the Executive Council, under delegated authority from Parliament, outside the powers of the council or Governor-General, as the case may be, on the grounds that, in fact, no power to make that particular piece of subordinate legislation exists.

In the constitutional context, the growth and proliferation of tribunals and other administrative bodies as an answer to the complexities of modern administration, and the increasing regulation by successive governments of socio-economic affairs, has challenged the traditional, original, and supervisory jurisdictions of the Supreme Court. In answer to parliamentary attempts to oust or restrict the Court's jurisdiction, the superior courts of many common law countries have dusted off hitherto unused writs and remedies and adapted them to meet modern demands.

The balance between the courts and the administrative agencies has been restored, partially, by the creation in 1968 of an Administrative Division of the Supreme Court to hear appeals or review the law applied by these agencies, and the institution in 1972 of a simplified procedure to obtain judicial review. Conversely, New Zealand still lacks a coherent policy towards the role and ambit of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction in the field of administrative law.

Because the Supreme Court lacks the capacity to declare an Act unconstitutional or beyond the scope of Parliament's powers, the judges have seen their supervisory jurisdiction over administrative acts as an important means of maintaining the balance of competing interests between the citizen and the State, and have taken steps to stem any erosion of that jurisdiction.

OMBUDSMEN—There has been an Ombudsman since 1962 able to investigate, on complaint or on his own initiative, any administrative decision, recommendation, act, or omission of a Government department or related organisation as it affects any individual. Ombudsmen do not have power to reverse departmental decisions, but may make recommendations to the department and to the Minister, and if, in the Ombudsman's opinion, no appropriate action is taken the matter may be reported to the Prime Minister and then to Parliament. Ombudsmen have very wide powers to call for documents and files. The Government cannot refuse information, except in matters relating to the security of the State or to Cabinet proceedings.

Under the Ombudsmen Act 1975 jurisdiction was extended to local authorities and a range of specified national boards, councils, and other organisations. Provision was made for the appointment of a Chief Ombudsman and additional (including temporary) Ombudsmen.

An analysis of complaints made to the ombudsmen and the resultant action is given in the Official section of this Yearbook.

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS—The law on elections is contained in the Electoral Act 1956 and its amendments. At every census the Chief Electoral Officer is to arrange with the Government Statistician to deliver to every occupier or person in charge of a dwelling forms of application for registration as an elector. This form is to be completed by every adult who is residing in the dwelling on the day of the census. Following the population census (every 5 years) the boundaries of General (formerly known as European) electorates are revised, and the new boundaries come into force at the expiry of the Parliament existing when the Proclamation is issued.

The Government Statistician is required to supply population figures to the Surveyor-General as soon as possible after the census.

The term “General population” means total population with the following exceptions:

After the population figures are supplied by the Government Statistician it is then the responsibility of the Representation Commission to define new General electoral districts. The commission comprises eight members. Five of these are official members; the Surveyor-General, the Government Statistician, the Chief Electoral Officer, the Director-General of the Post Office, and the Chairman of the Local Government Commission (who is without voting rights). Two are unofficial members, being persons nominated by the House of Representatives, one nominated to represent the Government and one to represent the Opposition. The eighth member is appointed, on the nomination of the official and unofficial members of the commission or a majority of them, to be the chairman of the commission. The chairman and unofficial members cease to be members on the date on which the first periodical census is taken after the date of their appointment.

The number of General electorates is based on total population under a formula that allocates 25 seats to the South Island. The total South Island population (excluding those on the Maori roll) is divided by 25, and the quota thus obtained for each South Island electorate is then divided into the North Island population (again excluding those on the Maori roll) to give the number of electorates in the North Island.

The number of Maori seats is fixed at four. The total Maori population is the number of Maoris, or persons of Maori descent who have elected to be considered as Maoris, who have chosen to be registered as electors of Maori electoral districts and their children aged 18 years and under.

When the boundaries have been provisionally determined, maps are prepared illustrating the proposed electoral districts, and descriptions of each electoral district are published in the New Zealand Gazette. A time limit of 1 month is given during which objections to the proposed boundaries may be lodged. These objections are then considered by the Representation Commission and a final decision reached on boundaries which then define the new electoral districts.

All general elections and by-elections are held on a Saturday. Polling hours in all electorates are from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Any member of the Armed Services aged 18 years or over serving overseas is qualified to vote as an elector of the electoral district in which he or she last resided before leaving New Zealand.

Franchise—Since September 1974, persons 18 years of age and over have had the right to vote in the election of members of the House of Representatives. (From 1893 onwards all persons aged 21 years had voting rights and the qualifying age had been lowered to 20 years in 1969.)

Registration of Electors—Registration as an elector is compulsory, although it is not compulsory to vote. To be qualified for registration as a parliamentary elector in New Zealand a person must have attained the age of 18 years and must (a) be ordinarily resident in New Zealand, (b) at some period have resided continuously in New Zealand for at least a year, and (c) except in special cases have resided continuously for 3 months or more in the electoral district in respect of which application for registration is made, and not have subsequently resided for 3 months or more in any other electoral district. Broadly speaking the qualifications restrict the right to vote to permanent residents. Maoris and persons of part-Maori descent may elect to be included on either the General or the Maori electoral roll.

Voting at parliamentary elections is by secret ballot. In general, only those persons whose names are lawfully on the main and supplementary rolls of electors compiled prior to an election may vote at that election.

A vote is normally cast by the elector at a polling booth within his district. An elector may, however, vote as a “special voter”, either at a polling booth outside his district or by post for reasons of distant travel on polling day, sickness, etc.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT: General—The present system of local government in New Zealand has evolved since the abolition of the provinces in 1876. Until fairly recently it has consisted of a structure of territorial local authorities—counties, boroughs, and town districts—and a further structure of special-purpose or ad hoc authorities, such as harbour boards, pest destruction boards, and electric power boards. Major changes were made by the Local Government Act 1974, which provided for the introduction of regional government, and for the establishment of district councils (as a new form of territorial authority) and “communities” (below territorial authority level). The Local Government Act also extended the role of the Local Government Commission in the reorganisation of local government. The Local Government Act as originally enacted has, however, undergone modifications, especially as a result of amending legislation in 1976 and 1977. The present situation is outlined below.

Consolidation and amalgamation of the Municipal Corporations Act 1954, the Counties Act 1956, and the Local Government Act 1974, is proceeding. This process, begun in 1977, is being carried out by way of a series of amendments to the Local Government Act, as the principal Act. When the process is completed there will be one Act containing all the provisions relating to the Local Government Commission and to the constitution, powers, and functions of regional authorities, territorial authorities, and communities.

Territorial Local Authorities—There are four kinds of territorial local authorities in existence:

Boroughs—The Municipal Corporations Act 1876 provided for the incorporation of the 36 boroughs then in existence and for the creation of new boroughs. Boroughs are currently governed in part by the Municipal Corporations Act 1956, but, from 1 April 1978, they have been subject also to the Local Government Act 1974, in consequence of the enactment of the Local Government Amendment Act (No. 3) 1977. Boroughs provide for the needs of concentrated populations and until 1978 there had to be a population of at least 1500, with an average density of population of at least one person per 4000m², before they could be constituted. A borough containing a population of 20 000 or more may be proclaimed a city, but the corporation remains unaltered.

Counties—Counties were originally constituted by the Counties Act 1876. That Act has been superseded by the Counties Act 1956 and, from 1 April 1978, the Local Government Act 1974. Generally counties are concerned with the needs of rural areas. Initially, there were 63 counties but with increasing settlement this number increased to 129 in 1920. Since then the number of counties has been reduced by mergers and at 1 April 1977 there were 99 counties, of which 98 were actively functioning, Fiord being a sparsely-populated county in which the Local Government Act 1974 and the Counties Act 1956 are not wholly operative.

Town Districts—The town district represents a form of territorial local government intermediate between the county and the borough. It implies a certain concentration of population. There were two types of town district—dependent and independent. On the enactment of the Local Government Act 1974, the four existing dependent town districts became community councils. Independent town districts do not form part of the county within which they are situated, nor are they subject to any county council control. After 1 April 1978 no new independent town districts are to be constituted.

District Councils—This form of territorial local authority was introduced by the Local Government Act 1974 in recognition of the fact that nowadays many territorial authorities are neither “boroughs” nor “counties” in the sense that they are neither wholly urban nor wholly rural. District Councils may now be constituted either by Local Government Commission scheme or by a borough council or county council passing a special order to that effect. The Governor-General may proclaim a district under a district council to be a city if in his opinion it is predominantly urban and it has a population of not less than 20 000. As at 1 March 1978 there were 4 District Councils: Waitomo; Thames-Coromandel; Whakatane; and Waipukarau.

Communities—The Local Government Act provides for the establishment of “communities” within the districts of territorial local authorities. Since 1976 a community may be constituted, by Local Government Commission scheme or by special order of the territorial local authority, only in an urban area within the rural part of a territorial authority district that is predominantly urban in character, or in an urban area within a territorial authority district that is predominantly rural in character, or in the whole of the area of one or more off-shore islands forming part of a territorial authority district. This has brought the position nearer to that existing prior to the enactment of the Local Government Act, which superseded Parts III and IV of the Counties Act 1968 under which county towns and county boroughs were able to be constituted within counties.

Although not local authorities in the true sense, each community has either a “district community council” or a “community council” of not less than 5 nor more than 12 members, elected by residents and ratepayers for a 3-year term.

District Community Councils—By statute, except for certain reserved powers dealing with finance, staff, and planning, a district community council may exercise all the powers and functions of its parent territorial authority. A district community council may be established only in respect of a community having a population of not less than 1500.

Community Councils—These derive most of their powers by delegation from their territorial authority, at its discretion. Once again, powers dealing with finance, staff, and planning cannot be delegated. In addition to exercising such powers as may be delegated to it by the territorial authority, the general purpose of a community council is to co-ordinate and express to the parent territorial authority the views of the community on any matter of concern to it, after consulting and obtaining the consent of the territorial authority to take appropriate action in the interests of the community, and to undertake, encourage, and co-ordinate activities for the general well-being of the residents of the community.

Regional Government—Apart from the Auckland Regional Authority, which was constituted by a local empowering Act in 1963, the regional bodies being established under the Local Government Act will be new to local government in this country. Regions and united or regional councils are being determined by the Local Government Commission and established by Order in Council giving effect to a final regional scheme of the commission.

Towards the end of 1978, five regions with united councils were constituted: Nelson Bays; West Coast; Wairarapa; Marlborough; and Taranaki.

Regional bodies will come to possess their functions through several means. First, every united or regional council will have two mandatory functions—regional planning (under the Town and Country Planning Act 1977) and civil defence. Besides these two mandatory functions, the Local Government Act provides, with qualifications in some cases, that a united or regional council may undertake functions relating to regional reserves, forestry, regional roading, and community services. The commission's regional scheme constituting a united or regional council may provide for the regional body to undertake the functions of any territorial authority or (where a special purpose authority or the appropriate Minister concurs) a special-purpose authority. A united or regional council is empowered to undertake exclusively any new regional function which is not undertaken by any other local authority in the region; the commission, by scheme, can provide that that function may be one that other local authorites are not empowered to undertake under any other statute. A united or regional council may also enter into an agreement with a constituent authority to undertake any function of that authority where, in the opinion of either party, that function would be more effectively and economically undertaken by the regional body. Finally, united and regional councils may enter into agreements with the Crown whereby they may exercise any function or provide any service for or on behalf of the Crown.

Criteria were provided in 1976 as to which type of regional body a region is to have. A region which has a population of not less than 325 000 and which includes one or more cities will normally have a regional council; in other regions—more rural in nature—a united council will be the rule. In either case, however, the converse type of regional body may be established by the commission if two or more territorial authorities in the proposed region (having sufficient weighting in capital value, population and area) so prefer. The membership of both united and regional councils will not be less than 12.

The main differences between the two types of regional body are as follows:

United Councils—These are to be appointed by the constituent (territorial) authorities. To obtain finance they will make levies on their constituent authorities. One of the constituent authorities is to be appointed as the administering authority of the united council, that is, to staff and service the united council. The united council concept is designed to meet requirements of those regions where the range of functions, or the nature of the responsibilities involved, do not justify the setting up of an organisation of the scale implicit in a directly elected regional council.

Regional Councils—These are to be directly elected. They will have direct rating powers. The establishment of a separate organisation is envisaged.

Special-purpose Authorities—Special-purpose authorities differ from territorial authorities in that each is charged with only one major function. The need for the most efficient and economic discharge of the major function being the prime consideration, their boundaries may either extend beyond or fall within those territorial authorities in the same geographical area. Only rarely do the boundaries coincide. Sometimes, as is the case with a number of pest destruction boards and hydatids control authorities, territorial authorities themselves are also constituted as, and perform the functions of, special-purpose authorities. The more important special-purpose authorities are those administering harbours, hospitals, and the retail distribution of electricity. Others are engaged in water supply, urban drainage and transport, soil conservation and rivers control, pest destruction, nassella tussock control, hydatids control, and land drainage.

Fire boards and urban fire authorities went out of existence as special-purpose authorities when on 1 April 1976 their functions and assets were taken over by the New Zealand Fire Service Commission (see section 8B).

Number of Local Authorities—Local authorities actively functioning at 1 April 1978 were as follows:

Territorial Authorities—County councils, 96; borough (including city) councils, 132; town councils (independent), 3; district councils, 4.

Communities—Also within the framework of territorial local government, although not local authorities as such, were: district community councils, 13; community councils, 109.

Regional Authorities—There was one regional authority.

Special-purpose Authorities—River boards (2 boards also have the powers of land-drainage boards), 6; land drainage boards (including 1 territorial authority), 26; urban drainage boards, 4; catchment boards, 13; catchment commissions, 4; regional water boards, 1; water supply board, 1; valley authority, 1; electric power boards (including 1 electric power and gas board), 38; transport board, 1; harbour bridge authority, 1; independent harbour boards, 16; pest destruction boards (separately elected), 63; wallaby board, 1; nassella tussock boards, 2; plantation board, 1; forestry corporation, 1; crematorium board, 1; hospital boards, 29; town hall board of management, 1; museum trust boards, 3. Borough and county councils also functioned as harbour boards in 8 cases, as county pest destruction boards in 36 cases, and as hydatids control authorities in 84 cases. In addition, there were 22 district roads councils of the National Roads Board constituted under the National Roads Act 1953. Although these district roads councils are not local authorities in the strict sense of the term they are intimately connected with certain aspects of local government, providing an advisory service to the National Roads Board concerning the roading needs and the allocation of national roading funds within their respective districts.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSION—To promote reform of the structure of local government a Local Government Commission was first established, as a quasi-judicial body, in 1946. The present Local Government Commission, constituted by the Local Government Amendment Act (No. 2) 1977, comprises a chairman appointed by the Minister of Local Government and two other members, one appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the New Zealand Counties Association and the other on the nomination of the Municipal Association of New Zealand. It replaces a commission of five members. Where the commission is to consider a proposal affecting a local authority other than a territorial authority, it may request the Minister of Local Government to appoint a person having special knowledge of the functions undertaken by that local authority, to be a temporary member of the commission.

The commission continues to carry out investigations, prepare schemes, and make recommendations and reports for the purpose of ensuring that the system of local government in any local authority will best provide for the needs and well-being of its residents and the continued development of the district; that local authorities have such district boundaries and such functions and powers as will enable them to provide most effectively and economically essential or desirable local government services and facilities; that local authorities shall have such resources as will enable them to engage adequate services and to obtain and operate adequate technical facilities, plant, and equipment; and that districts shall be of such a size and nature as will promote efficient local government and avoid the necessity of uneconomic expenditure.

The legislation sets out procedures to guide the commission, with emphasis being placed on consultation on proposals at an early stage, prior to formulating a provisional scheme. After the hearing of objections to a provisional scheme, the commission may draw up a final scheme. There are two distinct kinds of schemes which the commission may prepare and issue.

Regional Schemes—A principal task of the commission continues to be the preparation of regional schemes for the constitution of regions and regional bodies (united councils or regional councils) throughout New Zealand by 31 December 1979, or as soon as possible thereafter. The Minister of Local Government may refer a final regional scheme back to the commission for reconsideration of any of its provisions.

Reorganisation Scheme—Consideration of a proposal for a scheme for the union of local authority districts, the constitution or abolition of any district, the adjustment of boundaries, or a transfer of functions from one local authority to another, may be initiated by the commission itself or at the request of the Minister of Local Government or of any local authority. A new feature is provision for the appointment of conciliators by the commission to inquire into and negotiate on a proposal for a reorganisation scheme.

The Local Government Act as originally enacted brought most special-purpose authorities (other than hospital boards and education boards) within the jurisdiction of the commission. An amendment in 1976, however, removed the automatic jurisdiction of the commission in relation to special-purpose authorities so that it may now act only in those cases where the appropriate Minister or the special-purpose authorities concerned agree to their inclusion in a scheme.

GENERAL POWERS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES—Local authorities in New Zealand derive their powers from the Act under which they are constituted. As mentioned above, the Local Government Act is coming to be the main governing Act for territorial authorities, as it is already for united, regional, district community, and community councils.

There are several statutory measures which are more or less applicable to all local authorities, such as the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976 and the Local Authorities Loans Act 1956. Other legislation applicable to territorial, regional, and various other types of local authority includes the Rating Act 1967, the Public Bodies Meeting Act 1962, the Local Authorities (Members' Interests) Act 1968, the Public Bodies Leases Act 1969, the Town and Country Planning Act 1977, the Public Works Act 1928, the Local Authorities (Employment Protection) Act 1963, and the Joint Council for Local Authorities Services Act 1977.

For most harbour boards there is, in addition to the General Harbours Act, a special Act for each board which is subordinate to the general Act. Certain types of local authority—urban drainage boards, transport boards, the Auckland Regional Authority, the Auckland Harbour Bridge Authority, and the Waikato Valley Authority – derive their principal powers from special constituting Acts.

A local authority has no legislative powers beyond the authority to make bylaws within limits defined in its constituting Act, but it can promote legislation on matters which affect the government of the area under its jurisdiction and which it is not already empowered to deal with. If the subject is transient and not contentious and is approved by Government, it is usually dealt with by the inclusion of an appropriate section in the annual Local Legislation Act passed by Parliament for this purpose. If, on the other hand, the local authority seeks powers of a permanent or major nature additional to those conferred on it by general Acts it must submit to Parliament a special Local Bill. The extent to which the foregoing privileges are used may be gauged from the fact that the annual Local Legislation Act usually contains 20 to 25 sections, while about 15 Local Acts are passed each year.

Franchise—Under the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, local elections are held on the second Saturday in October every third year. They were last held on 8 October 1977. Enrolment of residential electors is compulsory. In a poll on any proposal relating to loans or rates, a ratepaying qualification is necessary.

Apart from a few special-purpose authorities, some of whose members are appointed by other local authorities or by Government, members of local authorities are elected triennially, any qualified elector being eligible to seek election. In general the franchise extends to all persons aged 18 years or over who either possess a rating qualification or who possess a residential qualification in the district of the local authority concerned. The right to vote for members of land drainage and river boards is, however, restricted to those who possess rating qualifications. In the case of regional councils the right to vote is limited to those who reside in the region.

A person who is an alien (other than an enemy alien) may vote in local authority elections but is not capable of election or appointment as a member of any local authority.

Voting Procedures—Under the provisions of the Local Elections and Polls Act 1976, any local authority may determine whether an election or poll is to be conducted by personal attendance at a polling booth or by way of postal vote. Since 1970, county councils had been authorised by legislation to use postal voting but other local authorities had been able to employ this method only on approval being granted by Order in Council. Where the franchise is to be exercised by personal attendance at a polling booth, the local authority may decide to conduct the election or poll over a period of not more than 11 consecutive days instead of confining voting to a single day.

Remuneration of Members—The remuneration of members of local authorities is governed by the statutes constituting the various types of local authorities. Most special-purpose authorities pay their chairmen an annual allowance with a maximum fixed for each type of authority. The maximum payable to mayors of boroughs and cities and county council chairmen varies according to the population of the local authority. The chairman and members of a united or regional council may also be paid such annual allowances as may from time to time be approved by the Minister of Local Government with the concurrence of the Minister of Finance.

TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING—The Town and Country Planning Act 1977 provides for the making and enforcement of regional, district and maritime planning schemes, and the detailed procedure to be followed in each case is amplified by the Town and Country Planning Regulations 1978. The Government administers the Act through the Minister of Works and Development who may delegate his authority to the Commissioner of Works.

GENERAL—By world standards, New Zealand's population is small—less than 3.2 million at the end of 1978. Our rate of growth, however, was, until recently, higher than in almost any other developed country. A main cause of this, until recent years, has been the relatively large gains from net migration. Because of the age of our population, our potential for growth will continue to be high for some time after the average family size has become small—as it is expected to do.

New Zealand's first million of population was recorded in 1908, 68 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. In 1952, 44 years later, the second million was reached, and the third million late in 1973.

POPULATION GROWTH—Population has two sources of gain—natural increase (excess of births over deaths) and net migration (excess of arrivals over departures). In the early years in New Zealand the bulk of the increase was through migration. From the late 1870s natural increase permanently displaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth. At the Census of 1881 the percentages of the total population born in New Zealand and born overseas were approximately equal (50.2 percent New Zealand-born to 49.8 percent overseas-born), and each succeeding census until 1961 recorded an increased proportion of New Zealand-born. Since 1961 (when the New Zealand-born made up 86 percent of the population) the proportion has fallen slightly, mainly because increased international travel and tourism have meant that at each census increased numbers of overseas-born tourists and travellers have been included in the population as enumerated on census date. At the 1976 Census 83.3 percent of the population was recorded as having been born in New Zealand.

During the present century, natural increase has accounted for over three-quarters of the growth of population. New Zealand's rate of natural increase is relatively high compared with other countries whose population is predominantly of European origin.

The natural increase rate has, in the main, closely reflected the changes in the birth rate with a low point on 8.63 per 1000 in 1935 and high points of 18 per 1000 in 1947 and 1961. In the 1960s the average rate was less than 14 per 1000, and a further fall, to about 9 per 1000 in 1977, has occurred. Like the low birth rate of the thirties, the fall in the birth rate in the sixties and seventies is a feature that New Zealand shares with a number of other developed countries, and notably with Australia, Canada, and the United States.

The natural increase in recent years is shown in the following table. A 50-year series of vital statistics is included in the Statistical Summary near the back of the Yearbook.

Migration, however, has continued to add to the population quite substantially except during depression and war periods, the recession conditions of 1968–69, and the latest three years. Gains from external migration since the Second World War are shown in the following table. Movements of the armed forces are not included.

In the past, most of the inward migration has been from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands. In more recent years increasing numbers have come from the Pacific Islands, notably Western Samoa. A changed economic climate in the country brought a net migration loss to population for the years ended March 1968, 1969, and 1970, but these losses were more than compensated for by relatively heavy gains to the population from net migration during the years ended March 1973, 1974, and 1975. The net gain from migration fell sharply during the year ended March 1976. More recent years have witnessed substantial net outflows. Net losses from migration totalled 13 727 during the year ended March 1977, 22 307 during the year ended March 1978, and 26 906 during the latest year.

POPULATION STATISTICS—Population statistics are based primarily on the five-yearly population census. Intercensal population estimates are based on the most recent census data available, adjusted in accordance with later figures of births, deaths, and migration. Estimates of the populations of particular localities, e.g., cities and boroughs, also take into account local economic developments, housing schemes, the numbers on school rolls, changes in boundaries, and any other factors leading to, or indicating, changes in population.

The basis adopted for the population census, and virtually throughout population statistics in New Zealand, is that of population physically present in the place of enumeration at the time of enumeration. All references to New Zealand relate solely to geographic New Zealand. Though Tokelau is constitutionally part of New Zealand, for geographical reasons it is administered separately. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing but the islanders are New Zealand citizens.

The most recent Census of Population and Dwellings in New Zealand was taken on 23 March 1976.

The figures in the table following are intercensal estimates revised (where necessary) in line with 1976 Census results and exclude members of New Zealand armed forces who were overseas, and also members of the armed forces of other countries who were in New Zealand.

The following table shows the New Zealand Maori population. The figures for 1975 have been revised in line with the 1976 Census results.

INCREASE OF POPULATION—The growth of population has been substantial in each intercensal period. The lowest rates were those of 1926–36, which included some years of economic depression, of 1936–45, which included World War II, and of 1966–71, mainly attributable to a marked change in migration patterns. Totals from the latest 4 population censuses are shown below.

POPULATION POLICY GUIDELINES—Early in 1973 an Inter-Departmental Committee on Population Questions was established in recognition of the growing worldwide importance attaching to issues associated with population. Late in 1974 the Government directed the committee to prepare a paper discussing the main issues to be taken into account in formulating a specific population policy for New Zealand. The committee's report, published in September 1975, discussed the world population situation; New Zealand's population situation in relation to fertility and mortality trends and patterns, and both external and internal migration; and the implications of current and projected population trends in New Zealand, taking into account the relationship of population to physical resources, the economy, and society as a whole. It concluded by laying down broad guidelines for a population policy. Because of the need for the co-ordination of population activities within the orbit of the New Zealand Planning Council established in March 1977, a Working Group on Population was formed in June of that year. Since that time the New Zealand Planning Council has had the responsibility for establishing guidelines for a specific population policy in greater detail.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER COUNTRIES—The annual average percentage increases of population for the period 1971–76, are given in the following table for certain selected countries. (Source: United Nations: Demographic Yearbook, 1975 and Population and Vital Statistics Report, 1977).

POPULATION PROJECTIONS—An indication of possible future growth of the total New Zealand population (including Maoris) up to 2011 is given by the detailed alternative projections which follow.

Projections of future population involve an element of uncertainty owing to an incomplete knowledge of the factors underlying changes in fertility, mortality, and migration levels. Also, difficulties in forecasting the future behaviour of these components of population change result from rapidly changing trends brought about by varying social, and especially economic, conditions.

It should be understood that, as with all demographic projections prepared by the Department of Statistics, these projections are not strict forecasts or targets, but conditional forecasts based on the stated assumptions. Presentation and use of the projections, therefore, cannot be divorced from consideration of the assumptions adopted.

These national population projections incorporate alternative short-term assumptions involving changing annual levels of net immigration as described in the footnotes to the table.

Age-specific projections, equivalent to those in the table below, are available on application to the Demographic Specialist Studies Section, Department of Statistics, Private Bag, Christchurch.

The following diagram presented on a ratio scale shows the growth of actual population from 1882 to 1978 and projections through to 2011.

Figure 5.1. POPULATION

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION—Detailed population statistics are compiled for each census and are published in two parts as Volume 1, Location and Increase of Population, Part A. Population Size and Distribution and Part B. Population Density of the Census of Population and Dwellings.

North and South Islands—In 1858 the North Island had a larger population than the South, but this position was reversed at the succeeding enumeration, and the South Island had the larger population (exclusive of NZ Maoris) at each census from 1861 to 1896. In 1901 the North Island was found to have slightly the larger total and since then has steadily increased its lead.

The following table gives the population of the North and South Islands since 1901.

The 1976 Census revealed that the population of the North Island continues to increase at a greater proportionate rate than that of the South Island. At the 1976 Census the North Island population was 2,268,393, a 10.6 percent increase on the 1971 total of 2,051,363. At the same census the South Island total was 850 990, an increase of only 6.1 percent on the 1971 total of 811 268. However, between the 1971 and 1976 Censuses, births in the South Island totalled almost 78 000 and deaths over 38 000, giving a net natural increase of approximately 40 000. The fact that the total population increase was nearly 50 000 indicates a net migration inflow to the South Island during the inter-censal period. This is in contrast to the previous inter-censal period (1966–71) when a net migration outflow of approximately 16 000 was indicated.

Statistical Areas—In the following table are shown the areas and the population of the statistical areas at the 1976 Census and an estimate at 31 March 1978.

Statistical Divisions and Main Urban Areas—Statistical Divisions and Main Urban Areas are statistical conceptions and not administrative units. Their purpose is to provide definite, stable, and comparable boundaries for the larger centres of population. Statistical divisions are a new concept. The basic criterion for a Statistical Division is a population of 75 000 or more within the area of economic and social interests of a heavily populated centre. Seven Statistical Divisions have been established, namely, Auckland, Hamilton, Napier-Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington (including Hurt), Christchurch, and Dunedin. The Division, like the Urban Area, does not have any administrative functions, but embraces areas of unified community, economic, and social interests. In addition to the central city or borough, Urban Areas include neighbouring boroughs and town districts and parts of counties which are regarded as suburban to the centre of population. Maps of statistical boundaries are available at Government bookshops. Minor adjustments of Urban Area boundaries have been made because of the peripheral growth of population in some of the urban areas between 1971 and 1976.

The populations of the 7 Statistical Divisions and the 24 defined Urban Areas are as follows:

Cities and Boroughs—The population of cities and boroughs is now given.

Note: Because of rounding, individual figures in this table do not always add to give the stated total.

Districts—A new concept in local government—the district—appears in the 1976 Cesus statistics in the form of the Thames-Coromandel District, constituted on 1 October 1975 and amalgamating the former Thames and Coromandel Counties and Thames Borough. Similar amalgamations occurred between 23 March 1976 and 1 April 1977 resulting in the constitution of three more districts; Whakatane (from Whakatane B. and Whakatane Co.), Waitomo (from Waitomo Co. and Te Kuiti B.), and Waipukurau (from Waipukurau B. and Waipukurau Co.).

Town Districts—The population of town districts—i.e., those contained in the following table—is not included with that of the county in which the town district is located.

Communities—The following table lists communities with estimated populations of 1000 or more at 31 March 1978. The parent county, district or city is shown in parentheses. The population of communities (previously known as county towns or dependent town districts) are included in the administrative county populations given in a later table.

District Communities—The following table lists the estimated populations of district communities as at 31 March 1978. The parent county is shown in parentheses. The populations of district communities (previously known as county boroughs) are included in the administrative county populations given in the following table.

Extra-county Islands and Shipboard Population—In addition to the populations quoted for administrative counties, districts, cities and boroughs, and town districts, the New Zealand totals include shipboard population and persons located on islands not within the boundaries of any county. The two latter categories comprised are estimated total of 3920 persons at 31 March 1978.

Counties—The following table gives the estimated population of individual counties at 31 March 1978 together with the approximate area of each. It should be noted that “administrative counties” do not include boroughs or town districts, which are independent of county control, but include district communities and communities, which form parts of counties.