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1 1 (May 22, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govzun0001 and id is 1 raw text is: w Congressional Research Service InUformig the legjaslative debate since 1914 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. Background 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. In 1893, New Zealand gave all women the right to vote. New Zealand attained Dominion Status in 1907 and gained full political independence from Britain under the 1947 Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. Politics and Elections 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 where a party's share of the seats roughly mirrors its share of the overall party 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. Updated May 22, 2019 The opposition center-right National Party is led by Simon Bridges. The next election is due by November 2020. Figure I. New Zealand in Brief Source: CIA World Factbook and the Economist Intelligence Unit. Christchurch Massacre 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, Prime Minister Ardern reportedly told President Trump that the best way to show support in the wake of the attacks would be to have sympathy and love for all Muslim communities. Defense and Foreign Policy In part because New Zealand is a small nation, New Zealand 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, in 2003 demonstrated, according to some observers, New Zealand's value not only in political and diplomatic terms but also as a military partner in the field. New Zealand also demonstrated such support through its deployment of military trainers in Iraq. New Zealand released a Strategic Defence Policy Statement in July 2018 that one report called more bold and frank in terms of the Government's foreign policy position, and its singling out of countries, than anything a New Zealand rts congressgov

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