User:Sladew/GoNZ

Main Description

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Legislature

The Parliament makes the law.

Parliament

Unicameral system with a parliament consisting of a single house, The House of Representatives.

Executive

(Ministers of the Crown also known as the Government) administers the law

Ministers of the Crown

Ministerial Portfolios

As at October 2010

Portfolio	Department	Minister	Name	Since
ACC	The Department of Labour provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for ACC
Agriculture	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	Minister of Agriculture	David Carter	2009
Arts Culture and Heritage	Ministry for Culture and Heritage	Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage
Attorney-General	Crown Law Office Parliamentary Counsel Office	Attorney-General	Chris Finlayson	2008
Biosecurity	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	Minister for Biosecurity
Broadcasting	Ministry for Culture and Heritage	Minister of Broadcasting
Building and Construction	Department of Building and Housing	Minister for Building and Construction
Civil Defence	The Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management, which is a part of the Department of Internal Affairs, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Civil Defence
Climate Change Issues	The Ministry for the Environment provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Climate Change Issues
Commerce	The Ministry of Economic Development provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Commerce	Simon Power
Communications and Information Technology	The Ministry of Economic Development provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Communications and Information Technology	Steven Joyce
Community and Voluntary Sector	The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector, a unit within the Ministry of Social Development, and the Department of Internal Affairs provide the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector
Conservation	Department of Conservation	Minister of Conservation	Kate Wilkinson	2010
Consumer Affairs	The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which is a part of the Ministry of Economic Development, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Consumer Affairs	Heather Roy
Corrections	Department of Corrections	Minister of Corrections
Courts	The Ministry of Justice provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Courts
Customs	New Zealand Customs Service	Minister of Customs
Defence	Ministry of Defence New Zealand Defence Force	Minister of Defence	Wayne Mapp	2008
Disability Issues	The Office of Disability Issues, a unit within the Ministry of Social Development, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Disability Issues
Disarmament and Arms Control	The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control
Economic Development	Ministry of Economic Development	Minister for Economic Development	Gerry Brownlee
Education	Ministry of Education	Minister of Education	Anne Tolley	2008
Energy and Resources	The Ministry of Economic Development provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Energy and Resources	Gerry Brownlee
Environment	Ministry for the Environment	Minister for the Environment
Ethnic Affairs	The Office of Ethnic Affairs, a unit in the Department of Internal Affairs, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Ethnic Affairs
Finance	The Treasury	Minister of Finance	Bill English	2008
Fisheries and Aquaculture	Ministry of Fisheries	Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Food Safety	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	Minister for Food Safety
Foreign Affairs	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Murray McCully	2008
Forestry	Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry	Minister of Forestry
Health	Ministry of Health	Minister of Health	Tony Ryall	2008
Housing	The Department of Building and Housing provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Housing
Immigration	Immigration New Zealand, which is a part of the Department of Labour, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Immigration
Infrastructure	The Treasury (National Infrastructure Unit) provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Infrastructure	Bill English	2008
Internal Affairs	Department of Internal Affairs	Minister of Internal Affairs
Justice	Ministry of Justice	Minister of Justice	Simon Power	2008
Labour	Department of Labour	Minister of Labour
Land Information	Land Information New Zealand	Minister for Land Information Includes statutory responsibilities of the Minister of Lands.
Local Government	The Department of Internal Affairs provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Local Government	Rodney Hide
Maori Affairs	Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Maori Development)	Minister of Maori Affairs	Pita Sharples
Pacific Island Affairs	Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs	Minister of Pacific Island Affairs
Police	New Zealand Police Serious Fraud Office	Minister of Police
Prime Minister	Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet	Prime Minister	John Key
Racing	The Department of Internal Affairs provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Racing
Regulatory Reform	The Treasury and the Ministry of Economic Development provide the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Regulatory Reform	Rodney Hide
Research, Science and Technology	Ministry of Research, Science and Technology The Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit, which is part of the Treasury, and the Treasury, provide administrative support for functions in the portfolio concerning Crown Research Institutes.	Minister of Research, Science and Technology
Revenue	Inland Revenue Department	Minister of Revenue
Senior Citizens	The Office for Senior Citizens, a unit in the Ministry of Social Development, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Senior Citizens
Social Development and Employment	Ministry of Social Development	Minister for Social Development and Employment
Sport and Recreation	The Ministry for Culture and Heritage provides purchase advice and monitoring of Vote funding for this portfolio (Sport and Recreation New Zealand provides policy advice and ministerial servicing).	Minister for Sport and Recreation
State Owned Enterprises	[[New Zealand Treasury | The Treasury], through the Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for State Owned Enterprises
State Services	State Services Commission	Minister of State Services
Statistics	Statistics New Zealand	Minister of Statistics
Tertiary Education	The Ministry of Education provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister for Tertiary Education
Tourism	The Ministry of Tourism, which is a part of the Ministry of Economic Development, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Tourism	John Key
Trade	Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade	Minister for Trade
Transport	Ministry of Transport	Ministry of Transport
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations	The Office of Treaty Settlements, which is a unit attached to the Ministry of Justice, provides support for this portfolio.	Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations
Veterans' Affairs	Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand, which is a unit within the New Zealand Defence Force, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Veterans’ Affairs
Women's Affairs	Ministry of Women’s Affairs	Minister of Women’s Affairs
Youth Affairs	The Ministry of Youth Development, which is a part of the Ministry of Social Development, provides the administrative support for this portfolio.	Minister of Youth Affairs

Other Responsibilities

Portfolio	Ministry	Minister	Name	Since
Archives New Zealand	Archives New Zealand	Minister Responsible for Archives New Zealand
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery	The Ministry of Economic Development provides administrative support for this responsibility. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet coordinates public service advice and support.	Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery
Education Review Office	Education Review Office	Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office
Government Communications Security Bureau	Government Communications Security Bureau	Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau
International Climate Change Negotiations	The Ministry for the Environment is the lead agency in relation to climate change policy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the lead agency in relation to international climate change negotiations.	Minister Responsible for International Climate Change Negotiations
Law Commission	The Ministry of Justice provides the administrative support for this responsibility.	Minister Responsible for the Law Commission
Ministerial Services	The Executive Government Support Group within the Department of Internal Affairs provides the administrative support for this responsibility.	Minister Responsible for Ministerial Services
National Library	National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa	Minister Responsible for the National Library
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service	New Zealand Security Intelligence Service	Minister in Charge of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
Rugby World Cup	The Ministry of Economic Development provides administrative support for this responsibility in relation to the co-ordination of government support for the Rugby World Cup. The Treasury provides purchase advice and monitoring of Vote funding in relation to the joint venture company.	Minister for the Rugby World Cup	Murray McCully
Small Business	The Ministry of Economic Development provides the administrative support for this responsibility.	Minister for Small Business	Maurice Williamson
Whanau Ora	Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Maori Development) provides the administrative support for this responsibility.	Minister Responsible for Whanau Ora

Judiciary

Judiciary interprets the law through the courts.

Head of State

New Zealand’s head of State is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand. The Governor-General is the Queen’s representative in New Zealand.

Exisiting

The Government of New Zealand, formally (albeit rarely referred to as) Her Majesty's Government in New Zealand, is based on the Westminster system of responsible government. Executive government in New Zealand is based on the principle that "The Queen reigns, but the government rules, so long as it has the support of the House of Representatives". The head of state (the Queen, represented in New Zealand by the Governor-General) follows the advice of the Government and plays only a formal role in the executive, except with respect to the formation and dismissal of governments and the use of the reserve powers.

History

While New Zealand had been granted self-government in 1853 following the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, the first government formed along political lines did not appear until 1891, when John Ballance formed the Liberal Party and the First Liberal Government.

Head of Government

The Head of Government in New Zealand is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is de facto indirectly elected, in that they are not directly elected by the people of New Zealand but become Prime Minister by (usually) becoming the leader of the largest party in Parliament following a general election. Formally, they are appointed and can be dismissed by the Governor-General of New Zealand.

See also: Prime Minister of New Zealand

See also

• Politics of New Zealand
• List of Governments of New Zealand