New Zealand in 2010

New Zealand in 2010

Area: 270,692 sq km (104,515 sq mi)
Population (2010 est.): 4,369,000
Capital: Wellington
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand
Head of government: Prime Minister John Key

An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck Christchurch on Sept. 4, 2010; miraculously, there was no loss of life, but the quake damaged thousands of dwellings and business premises at a cost that Treasury officials estimated at U.S.$2.9 billion. Aftershocks of up to magnitude 5.6 continued for weeks. The parliament enacted emergency legislation granting the executive branch sweeping powers to ensure that bureaucracy and legal delays did not impede the reconstruction process. Disaster struck again when springtime blizzards in September and October battered the southern region; among other damages, hundreds of thousands of newborn lambs died. The financial cost to the lamb industry was estimated at U.S.$36 million or more. In late November the country mourned the deaths of 29 coal miners who had been trapped and killed by a series of gas explosions in a mine on the South Island.

On November 4 Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed the "Wellington Declaration." The agreement established a strategic partnership between the two countries that would include political dialogue and practical cooperation on matters such as renewable energy, climate change, disaster response, and nuclear policy. New Zealand and Fiji agreed in January to restore formal diplomatic representation to improve relations strained by the tit-for-tat expulsion of senior diplomats in December 2008. Trade Minister Tim Groser claimed a “stunning victory” when the WTO ruled in August against a 90-year ban by Australia on imports of New Zealand apples. Prime Minister John Key made a three-day visit in early May to Afghanistan, where New Zealand had some 210 troops committed until the year 2011. The force sustained its first combat loss in the Afghanistan conflict on August 4 when Lieut. Timothy O’Donnell died when his routine patrol was ambushed.

Projecting an operating deficit for 2010–11 of U.S.$5.8 billion, or 4.2% of GDP, Finance Minister Bill English’s May 20 budget pegged new government spending to U.S.$750 million and capped future increases at 2% a year. The goods and services tax was increased from 12.5% to 15% beginning October 1, while income taxes were cut in all brackets (with a maximum rate of 33%) and social welfare payments were increased. The company tax rate was lowered from 30% to 28% effective April 1, 2011. After the collapse of one of New Zealand’s largest finance companies, South Canterbury Finance, the government paid about U.S.$1.1 billion to investors under its retail deposit guarantee program.

Law-and-order initiatives included tougher penalties for crimes against police officers or involving knives, mandatory licensing for high-powered pneumatic air guns, and the compulsory installation of security cameras in taxis. The police minister, Judith Collins, granted approval for police vehicles to carry pistols and rifles, albeit in locked safes, and police were authorized to ban individuals from any residence—including their own—for up to five days if they were believed to pose a threat to the residents of the dwelling. New legislation imposed maximum jail penalties with no parole for many third-time offenders. Shipping containers were refurbished for use as cell units at Rimutaka Prison, near Wellington.

A number of political scandals drew attention during the year. The misuse of taxpayer-funded credit cards by current and former cabinet ministers came to light, and House Speaker Lockwood Smith announced new restrictions on such spending. ACT New Zealand party member David Garrett resigned from the parliament after admitting that 26 years previously, as a prank, he had stolen a dead child’s identity to obtain a false passport. Former cabinet minister Chris Carter—who in July was revealed as the author of an anonymous letter to the media that disclosed conflicts within the Labour Party—was expelled from the party in October for having brought the party into disrepute.

In local government elections held on October 9, Celia Wade-Brown became New Zealand’s first Green Party mayor after she won election in Wellington. Auckland consolidated eight former councils into a single city government, and Len Brown was elected mayor of the newly created “super city.”

Neale McMillan