New Zealand
The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand withdrew from a number of defense alliances during the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years the government has sought to address longstanding native Maori grievances.
There are currently no known threats to expatriate travelers or residents and New Zealand has not experienced any significant social disorder since the last century.
New Zealand's last election was held on 27 November 1999. With 49 and 10 seats respectively in the 120 seat Parliament, the Labor Party under Helen Clark and the Alliance under Jim Anderton formed a minority coalition government. The Right Honorable Helen Clark was appointed Prime Minister and the Honorable Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister. Of the twenty-five Cabinet Ministers, twenty are Labor and five are Alliance MPs. The Greens (with seven seats) and NZ First (five seats) have decided to support the Government on confidence and supply. Having won all six Maori seats, Labor is paying close attention to issues of importance to Maori.
In April 2002, Mr. Anderton announced that he would not stand at the next election as a candidate for Alliance. His decision follows months of factional fighting within the party executive. Mr. Anderton plans to form a new party that he hoped would continue to be a coalition partner to Labor. The next election is due in the second half of 2002.
Traditionally, most of the inward migration has been from the United Kingdom, Australia and the Netherlands. In recent years increasing numbers have come from the Pacific Islands, notably Western Samoa, the Cook Islands and Niue. In the last decade there has also been a significant rise in Asian, particularly overseas Chinese, migration.
