1.
New Zealand Parliament
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The New Zealand Parliament is the legislative branch of New Zealand, consisting of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives. Before 1951, there was a chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning parliaments in the world, the House of Representatives is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. It usually consists of 120 MPs, though sometimes due to overhang seats. 70 MPs are elected directly in electorate seats and the remainder are filled by list MPs based on each partys share of the party vote, Māori were represented in Parliament from 1867, and in 1893 women gained the vote. New Zealand does not allow sentenced prisoners to vote, the Parliament is closely linked to the executive branch. The House of Representatives has met in the Parliament Buildings located in Wellington, Parliament funds the broadcast of its proceedings through Parliament TV, AM Network and Parliament Today. It was based on the Westminster model and had a house, called the House of Representatives. The members of the House of Representatives were elected under the first-past-the-post voting system, originally Councillors were appointed for life, but later their terms were fixed at seven years. In 1951, the Council was abolished altogether, making the New Zealand legislature unicameral, under the Constitution Act, legislative power was also conferred on New Zealands provinces, each of which had its own elected Legislative Council. These provincial legislatures were able to legislate for their provinces on most subjects, over a twenty-year period, political power was progressively centralised, and the provinces were abolished altogether in 1876. Four Māori electorates were created in 1867 during the term of the 4th Parliament, originally the New Zealand Parliament remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. One historical speciality of the New Zealand Parliament was the country quota, from 1889 on, districts were weighted according to their urban/rural split. The country quota was in effect until it was abolished in 1945 by a mostly urban-elected Labour government, the New Zealand Parliament is sovereign with no institution able to over-ride its decisions. The ability of Parliament to act is, legally, unimpeded, for example, the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is a normal piece of legislation, it is not superior law as codified constitutions are in some other countries. The only thing Parliament is limited in its power are on some entrenched issues relating to elections and these issues require either 75% of all MPs to support the bill or a referendum on the issue. The Queen of New Zealand is one of the components of Parliament—formally called the Queen-in-Parliament and this results from the role of the monarch to sign into law the bills that have been passed by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives was established as a house and has been the Parliaments sole chamber since 1951
2.
New Zealand general election, 1996
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The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new proportional electoral system. It saw the National Party, led by Jim Bolger, retain its position in government, New Zealand Firsts position as kingmaker, able to place either of the two major parties into government, was a significant election outcome. In the 1993 election, the National Party and the Labour Party had won 50 and 45 seats, the Alliance and the New Zealand First party had each won two seats. In the approach to MMP, however, there had been considerable rearrangement in parliament, as such, the situation just before the 1996 election was markedly different from the situation that had been established at the 1993 election. The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, because of the introduction of the MMP electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. Many electorates were abolished, with their territories being incorporated into completely new electoral districts, more than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total,73 electorates were abolished,29 electorates were newly created, South Island Since the 1967 electoral redistribution, the South Island had its number of general electorates fixed at 25. For the 1996 election and onwards, the number of South Island electorates is fixed at 16. The number of electors on the roll of the South Island divided by 16 gives the target size for North Island and Māori electorates. North Island Based on the described above, the target size for North Island electorates resulted in 44 of them being required. Māori electorates All four existing Māori electorates were abolished, the calculation described above resulted in five Māori electorates being required, these were Te Puku O Te Whenua, Te Tai Hauauru, Te Tai Rawhiti, Te Tai Tokerau, and Te Tai Tonga. List seats The House of Representatives was to have 120 seats and this left 55 list seats to be filled. An outcome of the election was that no overhang seats were required, of the 2,418,587 people registered to vote,88. 3% turned out to vote. The turnout was an improvement on the previous two elections, but still slightly lower than what would have been expected during the 1980s. While the number of general electorates decreased from 95 to 60, in the election 842 candidates stood, and there were 21 registered parties with party lists. Of the candidates,459 were electorate and list,152 were electorate only, 73% of candidates were male and 27% female. The 1996 election eventually saw a victory for the governing National Party, the opposition Labour Party won slightly less
3.
Massey University
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Massey University is a university based in Раlmеrstоn Nоrth, Nеw Zеаlаnd, with significant campuses in Аlbаny and Wellington. Research is undertaken on all three campuses, and more than 3,000 international students from over 100 countries study at the university, Massey University is the only university in New Zealand offering degrees in aviation, dispute resolution, veterinary medicine, and nanoscience. Masseys veterinary school is accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association and is recognised in the United States, Australia, Canada and its agriculture programme is the highest-ranked in New Zealand, and 19th in Quacquarelli Symonds world university subject rankings. It drew from the departments of Victoria University College in Wellington. In 1927 the college was renamed Massey Agricultural College after former New Zealand Prime Minister William Fergusson Massey who died in 1925 and had been vigorous in land reform efforts. The Massey Agricultural College Committee first met on 1 February 1927, the college was officially opened for tuition on 20 March 1928 by O. J. Hawkin. Women were admitted from 1932, with Enid Hills being the first, with the demise of the UNZ in 1961, it became Massey College, part of Victoria University of Wellington. In 1960 a branch of VUW was established in Palmerston North to teach students by distance education, inaugurated in 1993, classes began at Masseys Albany campus in 1994. In December 2010 Massey announced that the Wellington campus would close its School of Engineering, in December 2016, the Chancellor of the University, Chris Kelly, caused outrage by making several comments in a rural newspaper regarding the gender of those in the veterinarian profession. Whereas men find out about booze and all sorts of things during their first year. That’s fine, but the problem is one woman graduate is equivalent to two-fifths of a full-time equivalent vet throughout her life because she married and has a family. These remarks caused outrage, with Kellys apology via Twitter. Kelly resigned as Chancellor on 14 December 2016, and was replaced promptly by then Pro Chancellor Michael Ahie, Massey University has campuses in the Manawatu at Palmerston North, at Wellington and on Aucklands North Shore at Albany. In addition, Massey offers most of its degrees extramurally within New Zealand and it has the nations largest business college. Research is undertaken on all three campuses, New Zealands first satellite, KiwiSAT is currently being designed and built by New Zealand Radio Amateurs with the support of Massey, especially in space environment testing. The Manawatu campus in Palmerston North is based at the Turitea site, the campus has around 9,000 students. The Turitea site houses the administrative units of Massey University as well as the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Sciences. The Turitea site is home to the only Veterinary School in New Zealand, in 2013 the College of Education became the Institute of Education and is part of College of Humanities and Social Sciences
4.
Treaty of Waitangi
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The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand. It resulted in the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand by Lieutenant Governor William Hobson in May 1840, the Treaty established a British Governor of New Zealand, recognised Māori ownership of their lands, forests and other properties, and gave the Māori the rights of British subjects. In return the Māori people ceded New Zealand to Queen Victoria, the English and Māori versions of the Treaty differed significantly, so there is no consensus as to exactly what was agreed. From the British point of view, the Treaty gave Britain sovereignty over New Zealand, Māori believed they ceded to the Crown a right of governance in return for protection, without giving up their authority to manage their own affairs. After the initial signing at Waitangi, copies of the Treaty were taken around New Zealand, in total there are nine copies of the Treaty of Waitangi including the original signed on 6 February 1840. Around 530 to 540 Māori, at least 13 of them women, in the 1970s the treaty gained prominence amid greater awareness of Maori issues and grievances, particularly with regard to land claims. Māori have looked to the Treaty for rights and remedies for land loss and unequal treatment by the state, from the late 1960s Māori began drawing attention to breaches of the Treaty, and subsequent histories have emphasised problems with its translation. In 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal was established as a permanent commission of inquiry tasked with researching breaches of the Treaty by the British Crown or its agents, the move showed that the original document was not a firm foundation for the construction of a State. Today the Treaty is generally considered the document of New Zealand as a nation. Despite this, it is often the subject of heated debate, many Māori feel that the Crown did not fulfil its obligations under the Treaty, and have presented evidence of this before sittings of the Waitangi Tribunal. Some non-Māori New Zealanders have suggested that Māori may be abusing the Treaty in order to claim special privileges. The Crown, in most cases, is not obliged to act on the recommendations of the Tribunal but nonetheless in many instances has accepted that it breached the Treaty and its principles. Settlements for Treaty breaches to date have consisted of hundreds of millions of dollars of reparations in cash and assets, the date of the signing has been a national holiday, now called Waitangi Day, since 1974. Between 1795 and 1830 a steady flow of sealing and then whaling ships visited New Zealand, mainly stopping at the Bay of Islands for food supplies, many of the ships came from Sydney. Trade between Sydney and New Zealand increased as traders sought kauri timber and flax and missionaries purchased large areas of land in the Bay of Islands. The purchase of muskets by Ngāpuhi in Sydney began a devastation of the Māori population in a series of as many as 3000 tribal battles known as the Musket Wars between 1807 and 1845. In 1831, thirteen chiefly rangatira from the far north of the country met at Kerikeri to compose a letter to King William IV asking for help to guard their lands. Specifically, the chiefs sought protection from the French, the tribe of Marion, in response, the British government sent James Busby in 1832 to be the British Resident in New Zealand
5.
Waikato River
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The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for 425 kilometres through the North Island. It rises in the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupo. It then drains Taupo at the northeastern edge, creates the Huka Falls. It empties into the Tasman Sea south of Auckland, at Port Waikato and it gives its name to the Waikato Region that surrounds the Waikato Plains. The present course of the river was formed about 17,000 years ago. Contributing factors were climate warming, forest being reestablished in the river headwaters, the channel was gradually eroded as far up river as Piarere, leaving the old Hinuera channel high and dry. The remains of the old river path can be seen at Hinuera where the cliffs mark the ancient river edges. The rivers main tributary is the Waipa River, which has its confluence with the Waikato at Ngaruawahia, the name Waikato comes from the Māori language and translates as flowing water. The Waikato River has spiritual meaning for various local Māori tribes, including the large Tainui, the widely respected marae of Turangawaewae is close to its banks at Ngaruawahia. The Tainui iwi was advised not to bring a case for the river before the Waitangi Tribunal as they would not win, waikato-Tainui now have joint management of the river with Environment Waikato. It is possible that the flowed through the Waikato Basin about a million years ago before returning to its Hinuera course. After the huge Oruanui eruption 27,000 years ago pumice was showered all over the North Island to a thickness of 200 metres, a new lake was formed—Lake Taupo. The water built up until a new outlet was forced 120 metres above the present level near Waihora Bay, over the next few thousand years the bed of the river was raised by large amounts of eruption debris. The water level dropped quickly and the river stayed in this new course through the Maungatautari gorge, deposits show that the Waikato River was already in the Waikato Basin 21,800 years ago. The river starts as small streams on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu. The Mangatoetoenui Glacier is one of the principal sources, the southernmost tributary is called the Upper Waikato Stream. The Waipakihi River joins the Waikato from the Kaimanawa Mountains to the west, from the point where the river meets the Waihohonu Stream, down to Lake Taupo, it has been formally named the Tongariro River since 1945. The Pouto River joins from Lake Rotoaira to the east, the Tongariro flows northward, with State Highway 1 in parallel, through the town of Turangi, and into the southern side of Lake Taupo
6.
Prime Minister of New Zealand
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The Prime Minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The current prime minister is Bill English of the National Party, the prime minister is the most senior government minister, and chairs cabinet meetings. The office exists by a convention, which originated in New Zealands former colonial power. The convention stipulates that the Governor-General of New Zealand must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Representatives and this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The title prime minister had made its first formal appearance in the 1873 Schedule of the Civil List Act and this was changed in 1869 to premier. That title remained in use for more than 30 years, being changed by Richard Seddon to prime minister in 1901 during his tenure in office. Following the declaration of New Zealand as a dominion in 1907, the office of prime minister is not defined by codified laws, but by unwritten customs known as constitutional conventions which developed in Britain and were replicated in New Zealand. The Prime Minister is leader of the cabinet, and takes a coordinating role, the Cabinet Manual 2008 provides an outline of the prime ministers powers and responsibilities. The post of minister is, like other ministerial positions. However, the convention has long since established that the prime minister must have. Historically, this has meant that the prime minister is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives. By constitutional convention, the minister holds formal power to advise the sovereign. As head of government, the prime minister alone has the right to advise the governor-general to, Appoint, dismiss, call elections by advising the governor-general to dissolve parliament. The governor-general may reject the advice to dissolve parliament if the minister has recently lost a vote of confidence. The prime minister is regarded by convention as first among equals and they do hold the most senior post in government, but are also required to adhere to any decisions taken by cabinet, as per the convention of cabinet collective responsibility. The ability to appoint and dismiss ministers, furthermore, the MMP electoral system has complicated this, as the prime minister may have to consult with another party leader. The influence a prime minister is likely to have as leader of the dominant party and these powers may give more direct control over subordinates than is attached to the prime ministers role. The power gained simply from being central to most significant decision-making, in addition, like all other ministers and members of parliament, the prime minister receives annual allowances for travel and lodging, as do the prime ministers spouse and children
7.
New Zealand National Party
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The New Zealand National Party is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two parties in contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside its historic rival, the New Zealand Labour Party. The party originated in 1936 with the merger of the United and Reform parties, National is the nations second-oldest extant political party. National governed for four periods in the course of the 20th century and it has favoured economic liberal policies since the 1990s. Since November 2008, National has been the largest party in minority governments with support from the centrist United Future, the liberal ACT Party, Bill English has been the party leader and Prime Minister of New Zealand since 12 December 2016. The New Zealand National Party has been characterised as conservative and liberal, with outlying populist, the partys principles, last revised in 2003, seek a safe, prosperous and successful New Zealand that creates opportunities for all New Zealanders to reach their personal goals and dreams. It supports a limited welfare state but says that work, merit, innovation and personal initiative must be encouraged to reduce unemployment, historically, the party has supported a higher degree of protectionism and interventionism than it has in recent decades. The last major interventionist policy was Prime Minister Robert Muldoons massive infrastructure projects designed to ensure New Zealands energy independence after the 1973 oil shock, Think Big. The Fourth National Government mostly carried on the sweeping reforms of the Fourth Labour Government known as Rogernomics. Following a moderate Fifth Labour Government, the Fifth National Government of New Zealand took power in 2008 under John Key. For instance they extended free general practitioner visits to children under 13 as part of their 2014 election package, in the most recent general election, in 2014, the National Party ran a campaign focusing on stability. They promised to limit new spending every year, to not introduce any new taxes and they also campaigned on the possibility of moderate tax cuts within the next few years and are generally in favour of free-trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The National Party was formed in May 1936, but its roots go further back. The party came about as the result of a merger between the United Party and the Reform Party, historically, the Liberal and Reform parties had competed against each other, but from 1931 until 1935 a United-Reform Coalition held power in New Zealand. The coalition went into the 1935 election under the title of the National Political Federation, the two parties were cut down to 19 seats between them. Another factor was a party, the Democrat Party formed by Albert Davy. The new party split the vote and aided Labours victory. In hopes of countering Labours rise, United and Reform decided to turn their alliance into a single party and this party, the New Zealand National Party, was formed at a meeting held in Wellington on 13 and 14 May 1936
8.
Morrinsville
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Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealands North Island, with a population of approximately 7,000. The town is located at the base of the Pakaroa Range. Morrinsville is around 33 kilometres east of Hamilton and 22 kilometres west of Te Aroha, the town is bordered by the Piako River to the east and the Waitakaruru Stream to the south. First recorded contact with European settlers occurred around 1850, with John Johnson trading with the Māori from 1852, in May 1874 Morrin purchases two further blocks, Motumaoho No.1 and No.2, and his estate now totaled over 30,000 acres. Morrin hired Irish navvies from the fields to dig a network of drains to dry the land, enabling it to be used for agriculture. In 1882 Morrin surveyed the land for the site of the town proper, the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company began the construction of a railway line from Morrinsville to Rotorua in 1879, and on 1 October 1884, the line from Hamilton to Morrinsville was opened. With construction progressing towards Paeroa and the line to Te Aroha opening on 1 March 1886, Morrinsville is one of three towns, along with Te Aroha and Matamata, that serves one of New Zealands most prosperous dairy farming areas. The area around Morrinsville is sometimes described as being the most intensively dairy-farmed areas in the world and it is from the dairy industry that the town gets its slogan of cream of the country. Dairy processing has been an industry in Morrinsville, most notably through the Morrinsville Dairy Company since 1922. The dairy company retained the Scottish link through prominently using the name Lockerbie, today, after a series of mergers, the dairy factory is now operated by the Fonterra Dairy Co-operative. During the late 1920s a company was formed to develop the industry on the extensive low-lying areas west of Morrinsville. Several thousand acres were acquired for the planting and milling of New Zealand flax, during the towns formative years the area also contained a number of commercial sawmills, most of which closed by the 1930s as more and more land was cleared for farming. Meadow Mushrooms, one of Morrinsvilles biggest employers, ceased its operations and relocated to Canterbury in 2010. There is also a plant producing hydrogen peroxide, fertiliser and other agri-nutrients located on the southern outskirts of the town. Historically, Morrinsville was the junction of the Auckland–Thames and Auckland–Rotorua lines, which subsequently became the Thames Branch. Morrinsville Railway Station was opened on October 1,1884, to the east off Studholme Street, a footbridge over the track was opened in 1913, connecting the station with the town from the end of Canada Street. There are also large goods and engine sheds, and cattle loading yards, five workmens cottages adjoin the station, and the Bank of New Zealand Estates Company has a large building connected with the siding for seed-cleaning and storage purposes. The original station building was demolished in 1984 and a building was erected approximately 300 metres to the west off Marshall Street
9.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
10.
New Zealand general election, 1990
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The 1990 New Zealand general election was held on 27 October to determine the composition of the 43rd New Zealand parliament. The governing Labour Party was defeated, ending its controversial two terms in office, the National Party, led by Jim Bolger, won a landslide victory and formed the new government. The Labour Party had taken office after defeating the National Party under Robert Muldoon in the 1984 election, David Lange became Prime Minister and Roger Douglas became Minister of Finance. This internal dissent was off-set somewhat by new legislation and a strong stance against nuclear weapons. Labour was re-elected in the 1987 election with its parliamentary majority untouched, eventually Lange forced Douglas to resign in December 1988, but the crisis had weakened Langes position such that he resigned eight months later. He was replaced as Prime Minister by Geoffrey Palmer, but Palmer failed to revive Labours falling popularity, several months before the election, Palmer was replaced by Mike Moore. The National Party was performing strongly — its leader, Jim Bolger, spoke repeatedly of the Decent Society, the government was also being challenged by the NewLabour Party, founded by renegade MP Jim Anderton. The date for the 1990 election was 27 October,2,202,157 people were registered to vote, and 85. 2% of these people turned out. The number of seats being contested was 97 — this was the same as in the previous election, the 1990 election eventually saw a victory for the National Party, then in opposition. National won nearly half of the vote and 67 of the seats and this was the highest number of seats the party had ever won, either in absolute terms or as a percentage. Four new National MPs, were called the brat pack by Sir Robert Muldoon, the new Green Party gained the third-highest number of votes, but won no seats. The NewLabour Party won a seat, due to Jim Anderton retaining the Sydenham seat he originally won as a Labour candidate. The governing Labour Party, by contrast, suffered its worst-ever electoral defeat since it first won power in the 1935 election, winning only 29 of the seats and 35% of the vote, and losing 27 seats. Initially it appeared that twelve ministers and the Speaker had lost their seats, many of Labours talented class of 84 were sent away, though four of them, Annette King, Jim Sutton, Trevor Mallard and Judy Keall, returned in 1993. The result was due to intense anger at Labour and its policies rather than love of National. Six of these were one-term gains, recaptured by Labour in 1993, seats transferred from departing MPs to new MPs, The seats of North Shore, Papakura, Tarawera, Waitotara and Wallace, all held by departing National MPs, were won by new National candidates. The seats of Christchurch Central, Dunedin North, Eastern Hutt, Manurewa, Nelson, Palmerston North and Panmure, working with David, Inside the Lange Cabinet. The 1990 General Election, Perspectives on Political Change in New Zealand, Occasional Publications No 3,1990 Parliamentary Candidates for the New Zealand National Party
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