1.
Great Depression
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The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression that took place during the 1930s. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, in most countries it started in 1929 and it was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression of the 20th century. In the 21st century, the Great Depression is commonly used as an example of how far the economy can decline. The depression originated in the United States, after a fall in stock prices that began around September 4,1929. Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide GDP fell by an estimated 15%, by comparison, worldwide GDP fell by less than 1% from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession. Some economies started to recover by the mid-1930s, however, in many countries, the negative effects of the Great Depression lasted until the beginning of World War II. The Great Depression had devastating effects in both rich and poor. Personal income, tax revenue, profits and prices dropped, while international trade plunged by more than 50%, unemployment in the U. S. rose to 25% and in some countries rose as high as 33%. Cities all around the world were hit hard, especially dependent on heavy industry. Construction was virtually halted in many countries, farming communities and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by about 60%. Facing plummeting demand with few sources of jobs, areas dependent on primary sector industries such as mining and logging suffered the most. Even after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 optimism persisted for some time, john D. Rockefeller said These are days when many are discouraged. In the 93 years of my life, depressions have come, prosperity has always returned and will again. The stock market turned upward in early 1930, returning to early 1929 levels by April and this was still almost 30% below the peak of September 1929. Together, government and business spent more in the first half of 1930 than in the period of the previous year. On the other hand, consumers, many of whom had suffered losses in the stock market the previous year. In addition, beginning in the mid-1930s, a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the U. S, by mid-1930, interest rates had dropped to low levels, but expected deflation and the continuing reluctance of people to borrow meant that consumer spending and investment were depressed. By May 1930, automobile sales had declined to below the levels of 1928, prices in general began to decline, although wages held steady in 1930
2.
2011 Christchurch earthquake
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An earthquake occurred in Christchurch on 22 February 2011 at 12,51 p. m. local time and registered 6.3 on the Richter scale. The earthquake caused damage across Christchurch, killing 185 people in the nations fifth-deadliest natural disaster. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt, the earthquake was felt across the South Island and parts of the lower and central North Island. Subsequent population loss saw the Christchurch main urban area fall behind the Wellington equivalent to decrease from second to third most populous area in New Zealand,185 people from more than 20 countries died in the earthquake. Over half of the deaths occurred in the six-storey Canterbury Television Building, an additional 28 people were killed in various places across the city centre, and twelve were killed in suburban Christchurch. Due to the injuries sustained some bodies remained unidentified, between 6,600 and 6,800 people were treated for minor injuries, and Christchurch Hospital alone treated 220 major trauma cases connected to the quake. Rescue efforts continued for over a week, then shifted into recovery mode, the last survivor was pulled from the rubble the day after the quake. The nationalities of the deceased are as follows, road and bridge damage occurred and hampered rescue efforts. Soil liquefaction and surface flooding also occurred, road surfaces were forced up by liquefaction, and water and sand were spewing out of cracks. A number of cars were crushed by falling debris, in the central city, two buses were crushed by falling buildings. Because the earthquake hit during the hour, some people on the footpaths were buried by collapsed buildings. Damage occurred to older buildings, particularly those with unreinforced masonry. Of the 3,000 buildings inspected within the four avenues of the city by 3 March 2011. Many heritage buildings were given red stickers after inspections, as of February 2015, there had been 1240 demolitions within the four avenues since the September 2010 earthquakes. The six-storey Canterbury Television building collapsed in the earthquake, leaving only its lift shaft standing,115 people died in the building, which housed a TV station, a medical clinic and an English language school. On 23 February police decided that the damage was not survivable, fire-fighting and recovery operations resumed that night, later joined by a Japanese search and rescue squad. Twelve Japanese students from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages died in the building collapse, a government report later found that the buildings construction was faulty and should not have been approved. The four-storey Pyne Gould Guinness House on Cambridge Terrace, headquarters of Pyne Gould Corporation, collapsed, on Wednesday morning,22 hours after the quake, a survivor was pulled from the rubble
3.
European New Zealanders
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European New Zealanders, or White New Zealanders, are New Zealanders of European descent. The term European New Zealander also includes people who are of indirect European descent, such as Americans, Canadians. The Māori term Pākehā is sometimes used as a synonym for European New Zealander, Cook claimed New Zealand for Britain on his arrival in 1769. The establishment of British colonies in Australia from 1788 and the boom in whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean brought many Europeans to the vicinity of New Zealand. Whalers and sealers were often itinerant and the first real settlers were missionaries, some of the early visitors stayed and lived with Māori tribes as Pākehā Māori. Often whalers and traders married Māori women of status which served to cement trade and political alliances as well as bringing wealth. By 1830 there was a population of about 800 non Māori which included a total of about 200 runaway convicts, the seamen often lived in New Zealand for a short time before joining another ship a few months later. In 1839 there were 1100 Europeans living in the North Island, by this time, many Māori, especially in the north, could read and write Māori and to a lesser extent English. European migration has resulted in a deep legacy being left on the social and political structures of New Zealand, early visitors to New Zealand included whalers, sealers, missionaries, mariners, and merchants, attracted to natural resources in abundance. They came from the Australian colonies, Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, The United States, British sovereignty was then proclaimed over New Zealand in May 1840. Some would later argue that the proclamation of sovereignty was in conflict with the treaty which in its Maori version had guaranteed sovereignty to the Maori who signed it. By the end of the 1850s the European and Mäori populations were of a size as immigration. Following the formalising of British sovereignty, the organised and structured flow of migrants from Great Britain, government-chartered ships like the clipper Gananoque and the Glentanner carried immigrants to New Zealand. Ships would then head north once in the vicinity of New Zealand, the Glentanner migrant ship of 610 tonnes made two runs to New Zealand and several to Australia carrying 400 tonne of passengers and cargo. Travel time was about 3 to 3 1/2 months to New Zealand, cargo carried on the Glentanner for New Zealand included coal, slate, lead sheet, wine, beer, cart components, salt, soap and passengers personal goods. On the 1857 passage the ship carried 163 official passengers, most of government assisted. On the return trip the ship carried a cargo worth 45,000 pounds. In the 1860s discovery of gold started a rush in Otago
4.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
5.
Statistics New Zealand
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Statistics New Zealand is the public service department of New Zealand charged with collecting and producing information of a statistical nature. Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, there is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services, manages publishing and customer services, industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills. Many of the powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a state organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the Statistics Act 1975. The department conducts the census five years. The census is officially done on one day, the most recent census was on 5 March 2013. This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, the department supplies a wide variety of information. In addition, it analyzes trends and publishes forecasts, the agency does not involve itself with political polling generally. The agency provides information to the public, many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website, users can download spreadsheets electronically. Information from demographers is used as material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy, for example, Statistics New Zealand demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote, Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events. Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples and their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline New Zealand women stop having babies. The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Statistics New Zealand information is used by government to explore tough problems, agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in Connecting the Clouds - the Internet in New Zealand, author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases, data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source and this information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programmes such as Radio New Zealand National have quoted agency data, some agency policies result in controversy
6.
Wizard of New Zealand
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The Wizard of New Zealand QSM is a New Zealand educator, comedian, magician and politician. Ian Brackenbury Channell was born on 4 December 1932 in London, shortly afterwards, he was recruited by the University of Western Australia Adult Education Board to run their community arts programme. In 1967 he joined the staff of the newly opened School of Sociology at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. During the student upheavals, which began at this time, he created a direct action reform movement called Alf, the result was a revitalisation of the university referred to in the Sydney Morning Herald as the university that swings. His head of department, convinced he was mad, dismissed him without consultation for insufficient progress in his thesis in the sociology of art and he began to experiment with his own identity and allowed his driving licence, social security ID, passport and other important documents to lapse. After travelling to the World University Service headquarters in Geneva he received their backing to travel round Australian universities to promote his new revitalisation movement. In a condition of considerable hardship, he was able to persuade Melbourne University Union Activities Department to appoint him their unpaid Cosmologer, Living Work of Art. He founded the Imperial British Conservative Party to provide a counterbalance to international capitalism, in 1974 the Wizard migrated to Christchurch in New Zealand and began to speak on a ladder in Cathedral Square. The city council attempted to have him arrested but he became so popular that they made the square a public speaking area. Wearing his costume as a prophet of the Church of England or his wizards pointy hat, he has been speaking there at lunchtimes in the summer months ever since. Soon afterwards, accompanied by 42 assistant wizards, he came down by gondola from the Port Hills with tablets bearing the address of his new website. In 1990 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mike Moore and he had been providing his services free until recently, when the Christchurch City Council granted him a modest annual honorarium. The Wizard has received support from his partner, Alice Flett. On 8 September 2003 the Wizards large wooden house was destroyed by a fire, the Wizard, his partner and two boarders were lucky to escape with their lives and the Wizards extensive book and video collections were destroyed. The Wizardmobile, constructed from the front halves of two VW Beetles, was attacked and damaged. After the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake the Wizard planned to retire and leave Christchurch for good, saying that the town he loved had gone and that it was the end of an era. After it was announced by CERA and the Anglican bishop that the remains of Christchurch Cathedral would be demolished, the Wizard continues to speak on the need to preserve Christchurchs heritage buildings. The Wizard was awarded the Queens Service Medal in the 2009 Birthday Honours, the Wizard performed in Cathedral Square on weekdays from 1–2pm from November to Easter
7.
New Zealand general election, 1946
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The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliaments 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a narrower margin than in the three previous elections. The National Party continued its gradual rise, the Labour Party had been in government since winning the 1935 elections, and had been re-elected twice. However, the National Party had managed to overcome the problems which had once troubled it. Nationals leader, Sidney Holland, was proving more effective than his predecessor, while the Prime Minister, Peter Fraser, was weary, the after-effects of World War II, including ongoing shortages, were affecting the governments popularity. The 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth, the North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the quota through the Electoral Amendment Act,1945 reduced the number. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged,26 electorates were abolished,19 electorates were created for the first time, the date for the main 1946 elections was 27 November, a Wednesday. Elections to the four Māori electorates were held the day before,1,081,898 people were registered to vote, and there was a turnout of 93. 5%. This turnout was the highest ever recorded at this point, the number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902. The outcome of the election was probably affected by the abolition of the country quota the previous year and this had required rural electorates to be smaller than urban electorates, thus increasing the importance of the rural vote. Since National was more popular than Labour in rural areas, the change may have cost National the election, the 1946 election saw the governing Labour Party retain office by a four-seat margin, winning forty-two seats to the National Partys thirty-eight. In the popular vote — Labour won 51. 3% and National won 48. 4%, the election was a straight fight between the two main parties, and only 8 of the 76 European electorates had more that two candidates. The Democratic Soldier Labour Party did not take part, and National absorbed many of the miscellaneous candidates, the European electorates divided equally and the Maori seats decided the issue. No other parties won any significant share of the vote, after Harry Atmore of Nelson died, no candidate who was not from the two main parties managed to enter Parliament until the 1966 elections, when the Social Credit Party won its first seat. The table below shows the results of the 1946 general election, Key Labour National Independent Table footnotes, Gustafson, the First 50 Years, A History of the New Zealand National Party. The Politics of Equality, New Zealand’s Adventures in Democracy, New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987
8.
Demographics of New Zealand
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The demographics of New Zealand encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 4.7 million people living in New Zealand. New Zealanders, informally known as Kiwis, predominantly live in areas on the North Island. The five largest cities are Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton, few New Zealanders live on New Zealands smaller islands. Waiheke Island is easily the most populated island with 9,150 residents, while Great Barrier Island. New Zealand is part of a realm and most people born in the external territories of Tokelau, the Ross Dependency. In 2006, more people who identified themselves with these islands lived in New Zealand than on the Islands themselves, the majority of New Zealands population is of European descent, with the indigenous Māori being the largest minority, followed by Asians and non-Māori Pacific Islanders. This is reflected in immigration, with most new migrants coming from Britain and Ireland, in 2001 an estimated 460,000 New Zealanders lived abroad, mostly in Australia, representing nearly one-quarter of NZs highly skilled workforce. The largest Māori iwi is Ngapuhi with 122,211 people or 24 percent of the Māori population. Auckland is the most ethnically diverse region in New Zealand with 56.5 percent identifying as Europeans,18.9 percent as Asian,11.1 percent as Māori and 14.4 percent as other Pacific Islanders. The ethnicity of the aged under 18 years is more diverse than the population aged 65 years or older. Recent increases in interracial marriages have resulted in more people identifying with more than one ethnic group, approximately three-quarters of the population of New Zealand during the census were of European ethnicity. English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language are the official languages, New Zealand English is mostly non-rhotic and sounds similar to Australian English, with a common exception being the centralisation of the short i. The Maori language has undergone a process of revitalisation and is spoken by 4.1 percent of the population, New Zealand has an adult literacy rate of 99 percent and over half of the population aged 15 to 29 hold a tertiary qualification. As of the 2013 census, just under half the population identify as Christians, with Hinduism, Buddhism, New Zealand has no state religion and just over 40% of the population do not have a religion. Farming is an occupation in New Zealand, although more people are employed as sales assistants. Most New Zealanders earn wage or salary income, with a personal income in 2013 of $28,500. Unemployment stood at 5.1 percent in June 2016, while the demonym for a New Zealand citizen is New Zealander, the informal Kiwi is commonly used both internationally and by locals. The name derives from the kiwi, a flightless bird
9.
Census
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A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population, the term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses, other common censuses include agriculture, business, and traffic censuses. United Nations recommendations also cover census topics to be collected, official definitions, classifications, the word is of Latin origin, during the Roman Republic, the census was a list that kept track of all adult males fit for military service. Current administrative data systems allow for other approaches to enumeration with the level of detail but raise concerns about privacy. A census can be contrasted with sampling in which information is obtained only from a subset of a population, typically main population estimates are updated by such intercensal estimates. Modern census data are used for research, business marketing, and planning. Census counts are necessary to adjust samples to be representative of a population by weighting them as is common in opinion polling, similarly, stratification requires knowledge of the relative sizes of different population strata which can be derived from census enumerations. In some countries, the census provides the official used to apportion the number of elected representatives to regions. In many cases, a carefully chosen random sample can provide accurate information than attempts to get a population census. A census is often construed as the opposite of a sample as its intent is to count everyone in a rather than a fraction. However, population censuses rely on a frame to count the population. This is the way to be sure that everyone has been included as otherwise those not responding would not be followed up on. The fundamental premise of a census is that the population is not known, the use of a sampling frame is counterintuitive as it suggests that the population size is already known. However, a census is also used to collect data on the individuals in the nation. This process of sampling marks the difference between historical census, which was a house to house process or the product of a decree. The sampling frame used by census is almost always an address register, thus it is not known if there is anyone resident or how many people there are in each household. Depending on the mode of enumeration, a form is sent to the householder, as a preliminary to the dispatch of forms, census workers will check any address problems on the ground. While it may seem straightforward to use the postal service file for this purpose, a particular problem is what are termed communal establishments which category includes student residences, religious orders, homes for the elderly, people in prisons etc
