New Zealand

New Zealand (/njuːˈziːlənd/ new-ZEE-lənd, Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Māori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.

1926 in New Zealand

Population

A census was held in March 1926.

Incumbents

Regal and viceregal

Government

The 22nd New Zealand Parliament continued with the Reform Party governing.

Parliamentary opposition

Main centre leaders

Events

2011 Rugby World Cup

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005. The tournament was won by New Zealand, who defeated France 8–7 in the final. The defending champions, South Africa, were eliminated by Australia 11–9 in the quarter-finals. The result marked the third time that the tournament was won by the country that hosted the event (following New Zealand in 1987 and South Africa in 1995).

It was the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the 1987 Rugby World Cup, 1990 Commonwealth Games, 1992 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 America's Cup. Overseas visitors to New Zealand for the event totalled 133,000, more than the 95,000 that the organisers expected. However, there was a drop in non-event visitors, meaning the net increase in visitors over the previous year was less than 80,000.

Radio New Zealand

Radio New Zealand (Māori: Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa) is a New Zealand public service radio broadcaster and Crown entity formed by the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news, current affairs and arts network Radio New Zealand National and classical music and jazz network Radio New Zealand Concert with full government funding from New Zealand on Air. Since 2014, the organisation focuses increasingly on its production of digital content in audio, video and written forms.

The organisation plays a central role in New Zealand public broadcasting. Under law, it is responsible for the Radio New Zealand International Pacific shortwave service. It has a statutory role under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 to act as a lifeline utility in emergency situations. The Parliament of New Zealand also fully funds its AM Network, for the broadcast of Parliamentary proceedings.

History

Early years

Government-funded public service radio in New Zealand was historically provided by the Radio Broadcasting Company between 1925 and 1931, the New Zealand Broadcasting Board between 1931 and 1936, the National Broadcasting Service between 1936 and 1962, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation between 1962 and 1975, and the Radio New Zealand state owned enterprise between 1975 and 1995. The organisation placed a strong emphasis on training its staff in Received Pronunciation, until it began promoting local and indigenous accents in the 1990s.

RNZ National

RNZ National or Radio New Zealand National (Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa National), known as National Radio until 2007, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operated by Radio New Zealand. It specialises in programmes dedicated to news, the arts, music, and New Zealand culture generally, including some material in the Māori language. Historically the programme was broadcast on the (AM) "YA" stations 1YA, 2YA, 3YA and 4YA in the main centres.

In 2013, RNZ National had a 10.3 per cent market share, the highest nationwide and up from 9.1 per cent in 2009. Market share peaked at 11.1 per cent in 2011, probably due to Christchurch earthquake coverage. 493,000 people listen to RNZ National over the course of a week – the second-largest cumulative audience.

Programming

National's weekday output between 06:00 and midnight is characterized by the alternation of three extended news and current-affairs sequences, running for between one and three hours each, with three varied-content magazine-style programmes, each of which lasts for three to five hours. News updates are read live-to-air every hour, and by a continuity announcer outside these times. Polling by Radio New Zealand suggests Morning Report, Nine to Noon, The Panel, Checkpoint, Nights, Saturday Morning and Sunday Morning have larger audiences than any other programme in their timeslot.

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party (Māori: Rōpū Nāhinara) is a centre-right New Zealand political party, and one of the two major parties in New Zealand politics. The party was founded in 1936 with the formal merger of the United and Reform parties, which had previously been in coalition making it the nation's second-oldest political party.

Since November 2008, it has been the incumbent governing party, forming a minority government with support from the pro-indigenous rights Māori Party, the neo-liberal ACT Party and the centrist party United Future. With 47% of votes in the 2014 New Zealand general election, the National Party's MPs represent 41 out of 71 electorates in New Zealand and currently hold 59 of the 120 seats in the House of Representatives.

Policies

According to the party's website, "The National Party seeks a safe, prosperous and successful New Zealand that creates opportunities for all New Zealanders to reach their personal goals and dreams".

The First, Second and Third National Governments of New Zealand generally sought to preserve the economic and social stability of New Zealand, mainly keeping intact the high degree of protectionism and the strong welfare state built up by the First Labour Government of New Zealand. Arguably the last major interventionist policy was Rob Muldoon's massive infrastructure projects designed to ensure New Zealand's energy independence after the 1973 oil shock, Think Big.