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4 Otago L. Rev. 201 (1977-1980)
New Zealand Citizenship Redefined

handle is hein.journals/otago4 and id is 214 raw text is: NEW ZEALAND CITIZENSHIP REDEFINED K. E. DAWKINS* Introduction Until the enactment of the Citizenship Act 1977 the casual inquirer might well have admitted to some uncertainty concerning the status of New Zealand citizenship and its relationship to British nationality. Was New Zealand citizenship a secondary and derivative status, according precedence to, and possibly arising from, the rather vague concept of British subject? After all, the very title of the pre-1978 legislation - the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 - appeared to establish an unmistakable, if not natural, order; and the first part of that statute was assigned specifically to British Nationality. Or was New Zealand citizenship the primary status from which issued the indeterminate common status of British subject? In fact, the scheme of the pre-1978 New Zealand legislation was the creation of a two-tiered structure of local citizenship - expressing the basic juridical relationship of the New Zealander to his state - and common status. For the first time, New Zealand defined its own citizen- ship and recognised that its citizens, and those of other Commonwealth countries, also enjoyed the secondary status of British subject or Commonwealth citizen, the two terms being synonymous.1 In the three decades since, New Zealand citizenship has assumed an increasing importance. Rights which originally attached to possession of the common status are now held, in New Zealand, by local citizens only. Until recently, the entry of British subjects to New Zealand was un- restricted. However, changes in New Zealand's immigration policies since 1974 have impressed a new value on citizenship status -a value that is reflected in the sudden and continuing increase in applications for New Zealand citizenship in the last few years. At present, only New Zealand citizens enjoy the rights of unrestricted entry to, and residence in. New Zealand. The Citizenship Act 1977,2 which entered into force on 1 January 1978, signals an interesting change of emphasis. While the Act does not depart from the basic design of local citizenship and common status, it establishes New Zealand citizenship in terms that properly reflect the increased importance of local rather than common status in the relations of Commonwealth countries inter se. The title, which avoids any implied deference to the concept of British nationality, evidences this loosening of the British connection. The Citizenship Act presents a number of further significant changes in its revision and redefinition of New Zealand citizenship. It adopts the * B.A., LL.B., Post-Grad.Dip.Law(Otago), LL.M.(Michigan). Lecturer in Law, University of Otago. I British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948, s.3. 2 The new legislation, originally introduced as the Citizens and Aliens Bill 1977, repeals the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 and ss. 3-13 of the Aliens Act 1948.

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