Nearby, Nelson is a sunny and busy small city on the coast, where visitors will find pretty gardens, spectacular beaches and a growing arts community. Besides being an interesting place for art and culture lovers, the city is a good starting point for excursions to the three national parks in the vicinity. The UNESCO-listed Abel Tasman National Park has a rocky coastline, long golden, crescent-shaped beaches, crystal clear water, a seal colony, an abundance of bird life and a fine coastal track - the Abel Tasman Track (three to four days). Nelson Lakes National Park, also on the UNESCO World Heritage list, offers skiing and snowboarding during winter and fishing or sub-alpine walking tracks during the summer.

The Kahurangi National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage area, has a selection of walking tracks that offer an extraordinary range of scenery from mountains and karst tablelands to dramatic black-sand beaches on the west coast. The most famous of these is the tough Heaphy Track (four days). The Kaikoura coast, further south, is a world-famous conservation area, sitting opposite a deep water trench full of marine life, and is renowned for boat rides at close quarters with various species of whale and the chance to swim with dolphins.

Shopping facilities are excellent and hotels offer splendid views of the bay. Every two years, Wellington hosts the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, the country’s main cultural event including street theater, comedy, music and film festivals, all going under the same umbrella.

The spectacular Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, on the city’s pretty waterfront, combines cultural and historical exhibitions with education, entertainment and leisure activities, including a virtual bungy jump. Wellington is also the departure point for ferries across Cook Strait to the South Island.

The caves can be explored by punt or by donning a wet-suit and heading underground with an inflated car tyre. This unique New Zealand activity is called ‘cave rafting’ and provides an opportunity to float through the caverns staring at unusual rock formations and ceilings packed with glow worms, that resemble a star-strewn night sky.

Wanganui, on the west coast of the North Island, lies near the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand’s longest navigable waterway. Visitors can travel upriver by jetboat or paddle steamer and downriver by kayak or canoe. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Whanganui National Park is a green vision of unspoiled native bush where there remains the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’, a relic of the failed attempt at settlement in the glorious wilderness.

The Egmont National Park is also a UNESCO-listed World Heritage area, and provides an excellent though strenuous opportunity, even for the less adventurous, to climb a mountain (Taranaki) in a little over eight hours (return). Mount Taranaki, at the center of the national park, is an extinct volcano standing majestically amidst flat areas of lush green dairy farmland. The city of New Plymouth (population 50,000) is well known for its parks and gardens and, in particular, its colorful display of rhododendrons and azaleas in the spring.

Lake Taupo presents the less adventurous with an opportunity to enjoy unrivalled brown-trout fishing and a serene expanse of water fed by glacial streams and rivers. Rotorua is a good base for exploring the geysers and the large thermal zone of the North Island. It is a lively city full of all the usual tourist prerequisites and has the distinctive sulphurous smell of the surrounding boiling-mud pools.

Rotorua is also a major center for accessible Maori culture - there is an arts center where young Maori learn the skills of traditional bone, wood and greenstone carving. There is also the opportunity to visit a Marae (a Maori meeting house usually forbidden to pakeha, foreigners) and enjoy a concert of traditional songs, the haka (a Maori challenge usually witnessed before All Black rugby matches) and a hangi (a delicious feast cooked in an earth oven).

On the east coast, the beaches exist between straggling peninsulas and headlands, offering calm bays that are safe for swimming. Perhaps the most famous area is the Bay of Islands, intricately sculpted and renowned for excellent diving, boating/sailing and game fishing. The west coast offers enormous dune-backed black-sand beaches that are lashed almost constantly by Tasman breakers, rip tides and biting winds (there is no safe swimming here).

The views are fantastic and, just inland, the forests of the Northland Forest Park, contain some of the world’s oldest trees, including the famous kauri, many of which date back centuries. Cape Karikari, overlooking Doubtless Bay was one of the locations for films such as From Here to Eternity and The Piano, and offers access to wide, rugged, moody beaches surrounded by steep hills and cliffs, while Cape Reinga overlooks the spectacular meeting of the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea and the narrow extension of Ninety-mile Beach down the west coast back toward Auckland.

The South Island is the largest land mass, and is divided along its length by the Southern Alps, the highest peak of which is Aoraki/Mount Cook, at 3,754 metres (12,316 feet). There are 18 peaks of more than 3,000 metres in the South Island. The North Island is less mountainous than the South, but is marked by volcanism. The tallest North Island mountain, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres), is an active cone volcano. The dramatic and varied landscape of New Zealand has made it a popular location for the production of television programmes and films, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The usual climate throughout the country is mild, mostly cool temperate to warm temperate, with temperatures rarely falling below 0°C or rising above 30°C. Conditions vary from wet and cold on the West Coast of the South Island to dry and continental in the Mackenzie Basin of inland Canterbury and subtropical in Northland. Of the main cities, Christchurch is the driest, receiving only some 640 millimetres of rain per year. Auckland, the wettest, receives a little less than three times that amount.

Most of the 4 million New Zealanders are of British origin. About 15% claim descent from the indigenous Maori population, which is of Polynesian origin. Nearly 75% of the people, including a large majority of Maori, live on the North Island. In addition, 231,800 Pacific Islanders live in New Zealand.

During the late 1870s, natural increase permanently replaced immigration as the chief contributor to population growth and has accounted for more than 75% of population growth in the 20th century. Nearly 85% of New Zealand’s population lives in urban areas (with almost one-third in Auckland alone), where the service and manufacturing industries are growing rapidly. New Zealanders colloquially refer to themselves as “Kiwis,” after the country’s native bird.

New Zealand’s unique blend of Maori and Pakeha culture has given rise to a fresh Pacific identity that breathes vibrancy. From world-class opera singers such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to the talent of the theatrical spectacle that is the World of WearableArts, New Zealanders are exploring their artistic nature. The relative youth and isolation of the nation in world terms has led to artists developing a Pacific style seen nowhere else in the world.

What is Kiwi culture? It’s about being innovative, independent and celebrating diversity. As such, while there’s no denying that rugby - and sport in general - are an intrinsic part of New Zealand culture, the rising number of high quality art and culture-based events show the nation maturing and being recognised for its strength in the arts.

Maori are the indigenous people of the land (tangata whenua) of New Zealand and their culture is an integral part of New Zealand life. Visitors to New Zealand are presented with many opportunities to experience Maori culture first-hand.

The best-known of these is the thermal region of Rotorua in the North Island, where tourists can experience Maori kai (food) cooked on hot stones underground as part of a traditional hangi. They can also enjoy a Maori powhiri (welcome), visit local marae (meeting grounds), listen to kapa haka (traditional performances of song and dance) and relax in the popular thermal pools.

New Zealand’s foreign policy is oriented chiefly toward developed democratic nations and emerging Pacific economies. The country’s major political parties have generally agreed on the broad outlines of foreign policy, and the current coalition government has been active in multilateral fora on issues of recurring interest to New Zealand-trade liberalization, disarmament, and arms control. New Zealand values the United Nations and its participation in that organization.

It also participates in the World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank; International Monetary Fund (IMF); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); International Energy Agency; Asian Development Bank; South Pacific Forum; The Pacific Community; Colombo Plan; Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); and the International Whaling Commission. New Zealand also is an active member of the Commonwealth. Despite the 1985 rupture in the ANZUS alliance, New Zealand has maintained good working relations with the United States and Australia on a broad array of international issues.

In the past, New Zealand’s geographic isolation and its agricultural economy’s general prosperity tended to minimize public interest in world affairs. However, growing global trade and other international economic events have made New Zealanders increasingly aware of their country’s dependence on stable overseas markets. New Zealand is a very strong advocate of free international trade especially in agricultural products. New Zealand is a member of the Cairns group of nations in the WTO.

New Zealand’s economic involvement with Asia has been increasingly important through expanding trade with the growing economies of Asia. New Zealand is a “dialogue partner” with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and an active participant in APEC.

As a charter member of the Colombo Plan, New Zealand has provided Asian countries with technical assistance and capital. It also contributes through the Asian Development Bank and through UN programs and is a member of the UN Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific.

New Zealand has focused its bilateral economic assistance resources on projects in the South Pacific island states, especially on Bougainville. The country’s long association with Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa), reflected in a treaty of friendship signed in 1962, and its close association with Tonga have resulted in a flow of immigrants and visitors under work permit schemes from both countries. New Zealand administers Tokelau (formerly known as the Tokelau Islands) and provides foreign policy and economic support when requested for the freely associated self-governing states of the Cook Islands and Niue. Inhabitants of these areas hold New Zealand citizenship.

In 1947, New Zealand joined Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States to form the South Pacific Commission, a regional body to promote the welfare of the Pacific region. New Zealand has been a leader in the organization. In 1971, New Zealand joined the other independent and self-governing states of the South Pacific to establish the South Pacific Forum (now known as the Pacific Islands Forum), which meets annually at the “heads of government” level.

During the war, New Zealand felt abandoned by many of its allies, in particular Canada. Its close ally Australia had come under heavy attack from the Japanese, and New Zealand felt it was next. However help came from the United States which sent an army of around 20 divisions. Close defence cooperation with the United States and Australia continued during World War II and led to the ANZUS defence pact between the three countries. However, concern about French nuclear testing in the pacific at Mururoa Atoll, and about the presence of nuclear warheads or reactors on U.S. ships visiting New Zealand, contributed to growing antinuclear sentiment in New Zealand. Under the Labour Party government of David Lange, this lead to the passage in New Zealand of antinuclear legislation, preventing visits by ships carrying nuclear weapons or powered by nuclear reactors. In theory, warships that did not fall into this category were not blocked. However the United States took the view that any subsequent visit by a warship to New Zealand could not be carried out without violating of the United States’ security policy of “neither confirming nor denying” nuclear capability on its ships.

After increasingly acrimonious debates, the United States formally suspended its ANZUS security obligations to New Zealand in August 1986. This suspension remains in effect today, although the U.S. no longer carries nuclear weapons aboard its surface naval vessels. In recent years, there has been some debate in New Zealand about removing the antinuclear legislation, with the ACT New Zealand party commenting in favour of doing so and the National Party considering a referendum on the issue. However, public opinion remains strongly in favour of the ban.

Despite the political contention over ANZUS, New Zealand forces have cooperated with U.S. forces subsequently in the 1991 Gulf War and in the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. New Zealand forces did not participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but a contingent of New Zealand army engineers assisted with reconstruction work in Iraq in the aftermath of the war, being based in Basra. New Zealand forces have also participated in peacekeeping efforts in the pacific region in East Timor and in the Solomon Islands.

On July 15, 2004, New Zealand imposed diplomatic sanctions against Israel and suspended high-level contacts between the two countries, after two of its citizens, Uriel Kelman and Eli Cara, were convicted of passport fraud. The New Zealand government stated that there was strong evidence that the two men were Mossad agents and this action was “not only utterly unacceptable but also a breach of New Zealand sovereignty and international law”. On 26 June 2005 the Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom sent a letter of apology to the New Zealand government. Diplomatic relations were fully re-established on 30 August 2005 when the Governor-General accepted the credentials of ambassador Naftali Tamir.

Relations with France
New Zealand has always had excellent relations with France, which recently thanked New Zealand for helping it during German occupations of World War I and II. The relations were strained for a short period in the late 20th Century, however over the French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll and the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Under the New Zealand Royal Titles Act (1953), Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of New Zealand and is represented as head of state by the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright.

The New Zealand Parliament has only one chamber, the House of Representatives which usually seats 120 members of Parliament. Parliamentary elections are every three years under a form of proportional representation called Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). The 2005 General Election created an ‘overhang’ of one extra seat (occupied by the Maori Party), due to that party winning more seats in constituencies than its proportional entitlement.

There is no single written constitution; however, the Constitution Act (1986) is the principal formal statement of New Zealand’s constitutional structure. The Governor-General has the power to appoint and dismiss Prime Ministers and to dissolve Parliament. The Governor-General also chairs the Executive Council which is a formal committee consisting of all ministers of the Crown. Members of the Executive Council are required to be members of Parliament, and most are also in Cabinet. Cabinet is the most senior policy-making body and is led by the Prime Minister who is also the Parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition.

The current Prime Minister is Helen Clark of the Labour Party. She has served two complete terms as Prime Minister and has begun her third. On 17 October 2005 she announced that she had come to a complex arrangement that guaranteed the support of enough parties for her Labour-led coalition to govern. The core of the coalition is a cabinet consisting of Labour Party ministers and Jim Anderton, the Progressive Party’s only MP. In addition to the parties represented in cabinet the leaders of New Zealand First and United Future are to be appointed as Ministers outside Cabinet. An arrangement of this kind has never been attempted before in New Zealand.

A further arrangement has been made with the Green Party, which has given a commitment not to vote against the government on confidence and supply. This commitment assures the government of a majority of seven MPs on confidence.

The Leader of the Opposition is National Party leader Don Brash who was formerly Governor of the Reserve Bank. Also in opposition are the Maori Party and ACT New Zealand.

The highest court in New Zealand is the Supreme Court of New Zealand. The Supreme Court was established in 2004 following the passage of the Supreme Court Act in 2003. The Act abolished the option to appeal Court of Appeal rulings to the Privy Council in London. The current Chief Justice is Dame Sian Elias. New Zealand’s judicary also has a High Court which deals with serious criminal offences and civil matters, and a Court of Appeal, as well as subordinate courts.

New Zealand functions as a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. The basic system is closely patterned on that of the United Kingdom, although a number of significant modifications have been made. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, but actual government is conducted by a Prime Minister and Cabinet drawn from an elected Parliament.

Judiciary

The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, the High Court, the District Courts, and other courts and tribunals. Some Judges may sit on more than one.

New Zealand law has three principal sources - English common law, certain statutes of the United Kingdom Parliament enacted before 1947 (notably the Bill of Rights 1689), and statutes of the New Zealand Parliament. In interpreting common law, the courts have endeavoured to preserve uniformity with common law as interpreted in the United Kingdom and related jurisdictions. The maintenance of the Privy Council in London as the final court of appeal and judges’ practice of following British decisions, even though, technically, they are not bound by them, both bolstered this uniformity. However, in October 2003, the House of Representatives passed legislation to end this right of appeal from 2004, and to establish the Supreme Court of New Zealand in Wellington, which began hearings in July 2004.

Local government

New Zealand is a unitary state rather than a federation - regions are created by the authority of the central government, rather than the central government being created by the authority of the regions. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by Parliament. These powers have traditionally been distinctly fewer than in some other countries. For example, police and education are run by central government, while the provision of low-cost housing is optional for local councils. Many of them used to control ports and gas and electricity supply, but nearly all of that was privatised in the late 20th century.

New Zealand is divided into sixteen regions. These form the highest level of local government. New Zealand is also divided into seventy-four territorial authorities. Some of these are called Cities, while most are Districts. Most territorial authorities are wholly within one region, but there are a few that cross regional boundaries. There are also four instances in which regional and territorial authorities are combined into a single unitary authority, and the isolated Chatham Islands have a body with its own special legislation, making it very like a unitary authority.

In each territorial authority there are commonly several community boards or area boards (see below). These form the lowest and weakest arm of local government.

Each of the regions and territorial authorities is governed by a council, which is directly elected by the residents of that region, district or city. Each council may use a system chosen by the outgoing council (after public consultation), either the First Past the Post electoral system or single transferable vote.

Regions

Regional councils each generally have a ward or constituency system, and the elected members elect one of their number to be chairperson. They set their own levels of rates (tax), though the mechanism for collecting it usually involves channeling through the territorial authority collection system. Regional council duties include: environmental management, particularly air and water quality and catchment control
regional aspects of civil defence
transportation planning

Cities and districts

The 74 territorial authorities - 16 city councils, 57 district councils in more rural areas, and one council for the Chatham Islands - each generally have a ward system, but an additional councillor is the mayor, who is elected at large and chairs the council. They too set their own levels of rates.

The territorial authorities may delegate powers to local community boards. These boards, instituted at the behest of either local citizens or territorial authorities, advocate community views but cannot levy taxes, appoint staff, or own property.

District health boards

New Zealand’s health sector was restructured several times during the 20th century. The most recent restructuring occurred in 2001, with new legislation creating twenty-one District Health Boards (DHB’s). These boards are responsible for the oversight of health and disability services within their communities. Seven members of each District Health Board are directly elected by residents of their area using the Single Transferable Vote system. In addition, the Minister of Health may appoint up to four members. The last District Health Board elections took place in 2004.

Party politics
New Zealand has a strong party system in place. The first political party was founded in 1891, and its main rival was founded in 1909 - from that point until a change of electoral system in 1996, New Zealand had a two-party system in place. Today, New Zealand has a genuinely multi-party system, with eight parties currently represented in Parliament. Neither of the two largest parties has been able to govern without support from other groups since 1996, meaning that coalition government is common.

The two largest parties are the Labour Party (centre-left progressive) and the National Party (centre-right conservative). Other parties currently represented in Parliament are New Zealand First (populist, nationalist), ACT (free market), the Greens (left-wing, environmentalist), United Future (family values), the Progressives (leftist), and the Maori Party (ethnic).

Modern political history

The conservative National Party and the left-leaning Labour Party have dominated New Zealand political life since a Labour government came to power in 1935. During 14 years in office (1935 - 1949), the Labour Party implemented a broad array of social and economic legislation, including comprehensive social security, a large scale public works programme, a 40-hour working week, a minimum basic wage, and compulsory unionism. The National Party won control of the government in 1949 and adopted many welfare measures instituted by the Labour Party. Except for two brief periods of Labour governments in 1957 - 1960 and 1972 - 1975, National held power until 1984.

After regaining control in 1984, the Labour government instituted a series of radical market-oriented reforms in response to New Zealand’s mounting external debt. It also enacted anti-nuclear legislation that effectively brought about New Zealand’s suspension from the ANZUS security alliance with the United States of America and Australia.

In October 1990, the National Party again formed a government, for the first of three 3-year terms. In 1996, New Zealand inaugurated the new electoral system, Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) to elect its Parliament. The system was expected (among numerous other goals) to increase representation of smaller parties in Parliament and appears to have done so in the MMP elections to date. Since 1996, neither National nor Labour has had an absolute majority in Parliament, and for all but one of those years a minority government has ruled.

After 9 years in office, the National Party lost the November 1999 election. Labour under Helen Clark outpolled National by 39% to 30% and formed a coalition, minority government with the left-wing Alliance. The government often relied on support from the Green Party to pass legislation.

The Labour Party retained power in the 27 July 2002 election, forming a coalition with Jim Anderton’s new party, the Progressive Coalition, and reaching an agreement for support with the United Future party. Helen Clark remained Prime Minister.

Following the 2005 general election on 17 September 2005, negotiations between parties culminated in Helen Clark announcing a third consecutive term of Labour-led government. The Labour Party again formed a coalition with Jim Anderton’s Progressive Party, with confidence and supply from Winston Peters’ New Zealand First and Peter Dunne’s United Future. Jim Anderton retains his Cabinet position; Winston Peters becomes Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister of Racing and Associate Minister for Senior Citizens; Peter Dunne becomes Minister of Revenue and Associate Minister of Health. Neither Peters nor Dunne will be in Cabinet, however.