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Updated June 8, 2020
New Zealand
The United States and New Zealand work together closely
in bilateral, regional, and global contexts to address
common interests in the areas of defense, foreign affairs,
and trade. Bilateral and multilateral military-to-military
exercises involving the two countries, such as the 23 nation
RIMPAC naval exercise, have increased in number since
the signing of the Wellington Declaration of 2010 and the
Washington Declaration of 2012. These declarations
marked turning points in bilateral relations after differences
over nuclear policy in the 1980s prompted the United States
to suspend its alliance commitments to New Zealand (see
below). The renewed strength of the bilateral relationship
was also demonstrated by the November 2016 visit of the
USS Sampson, the first U.S. warship visit to New Zealand
in more than 30 years. This strengthening of the
relationship has been building since New Zealand's
commitment of military forces to Afghanistan in 2003. In
the view of many observers, this return to close cooperation
puts to rest past differences over nuclear policy.
New Zealand and the United States have common historical
roots as settler societies of the British Empire. New
Zealand, also known to New Zealanders as Aotearoa or the
land of the long white cloud, was first settled by the
Polynesian-Maori people around the tenth century. Dutch
navigator Abel Tasman discovered the western coast of
New Zealand in 1642, but it was English Captain James
Cook who, over three expeditions in 1769, 1773, and 1777,
circumnavigated and mapped the islands. The 1840 Treaty
of Waitangi, between the British Crown and indigenous
Maori Chiefs, serves as the basis for relations between the
Maori and European communities. The British Monarch,
Queen Elizabeth II, is the constitutional head of state of
New Zealand. Her representative, the Governor General,
acts on the advice of the New Zealand Prime Minister's
Cabinet. New Zealand attained Dominion Status in 1907
and gained full political independence from Britain under
the 1947 Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. In 1893,
New Zealand became the first self-governing country to
grant all women the right to vote.
New Zealand is a unicameral, mixed-member-proportional
(MMP), parliamentary democracy. MMP was introduced in
New Zealand in 1996. Under MMP, Members of
Parliament come from both single-member electorates and
from party lists leading to a parliament in which a party's
share of the seats roughly mirrors its share of the overall
vote. New Zealand does not have a state or provincial level
of government. The current government is a coalition of the
Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and
the New Zealand First Party, led by Winston Peters. This
coalition has a confidence and supply agreement with the
Green Party and has been in power since October 2017. The
opposition center-right National Party is led by Todd
Muller. The next election is scheduled for September 2020.
Figure I. New Zealand in Brief
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Ethnic groupsi FuroLpean 71%, Mlaori 14% :, Asian 21c' Pj~cik
Ws~ne 3% (2013 [may ent A w it4 rnm eMtan one p nu,]
Exports ' Prcjuct 1ay awo, frun ni il, wne. Ma kets
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GDP: Flpp ta 3OOpp Seitori agnoLUltUfe 5./, -
indust v 21 % n en 7.8% with VA growt (2017 -st.).
Source: CIA World Factbook and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Ardern achieved high approval ratings as a result of her
government's effective handling of the coronavirus. Ardern
lifted all coronavirus restrictions except border controls
after reporting zero active cases on June 7, 2020. Observers
expect that Labour will increase its seats in parliament
following the Septemher 2020 election. June 2020
projections estimate that GDP growth will be -3.5% in 2020
and then increase to 1.7% growth in 2021.
A 28-year-old Australian man, who has been described as a
white supremacist, attacked the Al Noor Mosque and
Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, on
March 15, 2019. Fifty-one people were killed in the attacks.
Following the attacks, parliament passed legislation
outlawing military style semi-automatic weapons and
assault rifles.
In part because New Zealand is a small nation, officials
place much emphasis on multilateral processes and
institutions. They also place emphasis on regional economic
institutions, and Australia and the United States figure
prominently in New Zealand's national security affairs.
New Zealand's commitment of regular troops and other
assistance in support of the Provincial Reconstruction Team
in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, from 2003 to 2013
demonstrated, according to some observers, New Zealand's
value as an apolitical, diplomatic, and military partner. New](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govdbyx0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)