1.
Department of Building and Housing
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The Department of Building and Housing, previously the Ministry of Housing, was a government agency within the New Zealand government. Its former functions are now incorporated within the Ministry of Business, Innovation, the new Ministry began operating on 1 July 2012. State housing Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
2.
Department of Labour (New Zealand)
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It was replaced with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on 1 July 2012. The Department was established under the Liberal Government of New Zealand in 1891 as the Bureau of Industries with Edward Treager as its sole employee. The following year, when W. Pember Reeves was appointed the first Minister of Labour, over time, the functions of the department changed, including the acquisition of responsibilities around employment. The departments functions were reaffirmed through the Labour Department Act 1954, the new Ministry began operating on 1 July 2012. Employment New Zealand is the name for the part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation. Former Department of Labour official site
3.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
4.
Defence House
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The former Defence House is historic office building in Wellington, New Zealand. The building is classified as a Category 2 historic building by Heritage New Zealand, in 2007, the New Zealand Defence Force moved out of the building after tenanting the building since its construction in the 1940s. The building was no longer fit-for-purpose, and according to the Defence Force, Despite refurbishments the décor remained dull and dated, the Defence Force flags were taken down on 23 February 2007 in a ceremony to close of the building. In December 2012, it was announced that the building would be bought by Argosy Property Management for $33.2 million, a 12-year tenancy agreement was signed between Argosy and the New Zealand Government in January 2013. In late 2014, about 2,000 Ministry of Business, Innovation, the relocation had a capital budget of over $18 million, but ultimately $16 million was spent. Operational expenditure on the move was $688,000, the costs involved with the refurbishment were controversial, including the almost $70,000 cost of the MBIE sign outside the building, and the $360,000 cost of office furniture. Profile of the building, Architecture Now
5.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
6.
Wellington Region
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The Wellington Region is a local government region of New Zealand that occupies the southern end of the North Island. The region covers an area of 8,049 square kilometres, the region is named after Wellington, New Zealands capital city and regions seat. The region is administered by the Wellington Regional Council, which uses the promotional name Greater Wellington Regional Council, the Wellington Regional Council was first formed in 1980 from a merger of the Wellington Regional Planning Authority and the Wellington Regional Water Board. A proposal made in 2013 that nine territorial authorities amalgamate to form a single supercity met substantial opposition and was abandoned in June 2015. In its more restrictive sense the region refers to the cluster of built-up areas west of the Tararua ranges, the much more sparsely populated area to the east has its own name, Wairarapa, and a centre in Masterton. To a lesser extent, the Kapiti Coast is sometimes excluded from the region, Otaki in particular has strong connections to the Horowhenua District to the north. The Māori who originally settled the region knew it as Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui, legend recounts that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the tenth century. The region was settled by Europeans in 1839 by the New Zealand Company, Wellington became the capital of Wellington Province upon the creation of the province in 1853, until the Abolition of the Provinces Act came into force on 1 Nov 1876. Wellington became capital of New Zealand in 1865, the capital after Russell. The region occupies the tip of the North Island, bounded to the west, south. The region covers 7,860 square kilometres, and extends north to Otaki, physically and topologically the region has four areas running roughly parallel along a northeast–southwest axis, The Kapiti Coast, a narrow strip of coastal plain running north from Paekakariki. It contains numerous small towns, many of which gain at least a proportion of their wealth from tourism, rough hill country inland from the Kapiti Coast, formed along the same major geologic fault responsible for the Southern Alps in the South Island. Rough hill country, lower than the Tararua Range but far less economic than the land around the Ruamahanga River and this and the other hilly striation are still largely forested. Other main centres of population are on the Kapiti Coast and in the farming areas close to the upper Ruamahanga River in the Wairarapa. Along the Kapiti Coast, numerous small towns sit close together, from the north, these include Otaki, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, the twin settlements of Raumati Beach and Raumati South, Paekakariki and Pukerua Bay, the latter being a northern suburb of Porirua. Each of these settlements has a population of between 2,000 and 10,000, making this moderately heavily populated, in the Wairarapa the largest community by a considerable margin is Masterton, with a population of almost 20,000. Other towns include Featherston, Martinborough, Carterton and Greytown, the region is by a large margin the wealthiest in the country. The most up-to-date estimates for regional GDP prepared by the Ministry for Economic Development put it at $17, at the 2006 census the region had the largest percentages of people in the four highest income groupings and the lowest percentage of residents in the loss group
7.
David Parker (New Zealand politician)
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David William Parker is a New Zealand politician, a member of the New Zealand Labour Party and a list MP. He was interim leader of the Labour Party from September to November 2014 and he previously served as Minister of State Services, Minister of Energy, Minister for Land Information and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand. David Parker was born in Roxburgh and grew up in Dunedin and he attended the University of Otago, studying law and business, and co-founded the Dunedin Community Law Centre. Before entering politics, Parker worked as a partner in the law firm Anderson Lloyd Caudwell. He later had a career in the agri-biotechnology field, including with Blis Technologies. Parker first gained election to Parliament as a Labour member in the 2002 elections, in the 2005 elections the National candidate Jacqui Dean defeated him in his Otago electorate seat, but he returned to the House due to his position on the Labour list. In the 2008 general election Parker and Dean both stood in the resurrected Waitaki electorate, with Dean winning by over 11,000 votes, nevertheless, due to his list position he was still returned to parliament. In the 2011 election, Parker stood in the Epsom electorate, where he came third behind ACT New Zealands John Banks and Nationals Paul Goldsmith, in the 2014 election, Parker did not contest an electorate, but was number two on the Labour list. He served as Attorney-General and Minister of Transport and Energy from 2005 until March 2006, on 21 March Parker also resigned his place in Cabinet as Minister of Energy, Minister of Transport, and Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues. An inquiry by the Companies Office cleared him of the charge of filing false returns, helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, re-appointed Parker to the Energy and Climate Change portfolios and to the Land Information portfolio on 2 May 2006. In July 2007 Clark appointed Parker as the acting Minister for the Environment following the resignation of David Benson-Pope, following Labours defeat in the 2008 general election, Parker became the Opposition spokesperson on Conservation, ACC and Shadow Attorney-General. Parker ran for the party leadership in 2011, but withdrew part-way through the contest to support David Shearers bid, Parker then became the Labour spokesperson for Finance and the shadow Attorney-General. From 17 September 2013, Parker was the deputy leader of the Labour Party, following the poor performance of the Labour Party in the 2014 general election, and the eventual resignation of David Cunliffe as leader, Parker was appointed interim leader of the Labour Party. He then unsuccessfully ran in the 2014 Labour Party leadership election and he came third in the leadership election behind Grant Robertson
8.
Immigration New Zealand
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Visas are issued by INZ staff in offices throughout New Zealand and around the world. Visas are also issued by certain posts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the Immigration Act 2009, a visa is an authority for an individual to travel to, or stay in New Zealand. A visa has conditions that indicate what the holder of the visa may do, because of understaffing turnaround times to process visa application have steadily increased over the years. Currently INZ expects to process visa applications within 60 working days after an application is lodged, responsible for policy and systems development Business Information Branch e-Branch Processes applications lodged through Online Services. This includes student applications from approved education providers and Working Holiday Visas for many countries, national Contact Centre The first point of contact for phone/email enquiries from clients in New Zealand and Australia. Refugee Status Branch Decides applications for refugee status made by persons within New Zealand, Refugee Quota Branch Processes and provides treatment for refugees upon arrival. Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre Selects offshore refugees in order to meet the government’s humanitarian obligations, suva Branch Apia Branch Nukuʻalofa Branch Compliance Operations The main responsibility of Compliance Operations is locating and removing persons who are unlawfully in New Zealand. Compliance Operations is also responsible for managing the detention of persons who are detained, onshore Border Operations This branch is responsible for any immigration issues arising at New Zealand’s physical border. INZ maintains a presence at Auckland and Christchurch airports and a part-time presence at Wellington and Queenstown airports depending on flight schedules. Offshore Border Operations This branch operates the Advance Passenger Screening Support Office in Auckland, supported by intelligence analysts in Compliance Operations, Border Operations, Refugee Status Branch and the Immigration Profiling Group. In 2008, the General Manager Mary-Anne Thompson was forced to resign after not one scandal, despite these repeated and blatant breaches of policy, the initial internal investigation merely recommended counseling. She subsequently pleaded guilty to charges laid regarding this claim. Later, the director, Mai Malaulau, was controversially appointed the head of the Pacific Branch. The Pacific branch performed so poorly, that it was shut down by the department. In the year 2012,7 out of 10 complaints about access to department files, were upheld by the department. The Minister of Immigration was established by the First Labour Government in 1946, the current minister is Michael Woodhouse. Immigration and Protection Tribunal New Zealand Customs Service Visa policy of New Zealand Immigration New Zealand
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