Realm of New Zealand

The monarch of New Zealand, personally represented by the governor-general of New Zealand, is the head of state throughout the Realm of New Zealand. The New Zealand monarchy is unitary throughout all jurisdictions in the realm with the headship of state being a part of all equally.{{cite web|title= Tokelau: A History of Government|url= http://www.tokelau.org.nz/site/tokelau/files/Tokelau%20A%20History%20of%20Government%20FINAL.pdf|publisher=Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau|access-date= 2 September 2016|location= Wellington|date= 2008}} The 1983 Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand define the exact scope of the realm.

{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/1983/0225/latest/DLM90805.html?search=ts_act_waste_resel|title=Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand (SR 1983/225)|publisher=New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office|date=1983|access-date=24 February 2020}}

The Pacific islands of the Cook Islands and Niue became New Zealand's first colonies in 1901 and then protectorates. From 1965 the Cook Islands became self-governing, as did Niue from 1974. Tokelau came under New Zealand control in 1925 and remains a non-self-governing territory.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Fraenkel |first=Ron |title=Pacific Islands and New Zealand|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-islands-and-new-zealand |encyclopedia= Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=20 June 2012 |access-date=22 November 2016 |language=en-NZ}}

The Ross Dependency comprises that sector of the Antarctic continent between 160° east and 150° west longitude, together with the islands lying between those degrees of longitude and south of latitude 60° south.{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last1= McLintock|editor-first1= Alexander Hare |author-last1=Wheeler |author-first1= Ralph Hudson |location=Wellington |title= The Ross Dependency|url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/antarctica|encyclopedia= An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand|access-date= 22 November 2016|date= 1966}} The British (imperial) government took possession of this territory in 1923 and entrusted it to the administration of New Zealand.{{cite web |title=Antarctica and the Southern Ocean |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/environment/antarctica/ |publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=8 August 2020 |language=en-NZ}} Neither Russia nor the United States recognises this claim, and the matter remains unresolved (along with all other Antarctic claims) by the Antarctic Treaty, which serves to mostly smooth over these differences.{{cite web |title=Who owns Antarctica? |url=http://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarctica/people-in-antarctica/who-owns-antarctica |publisher=Australian Department of the Environment and Energy |access-date=10 October 2018 |date=8 September 2017}} The area is uninhabited, apart from scientific bases.

New Zealand nationality law treats all parts of the realm equally, so most people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau and the Ross Dependency before 2006 are New Zealand citizens. Further conditions apply for those born from 2006 onwards.{{cite web |url= http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Citizenship-Check-if-you’re-a-New-Zealand-citizen?OpenDocument |title= Check if you're a New Zealand citizen |publisher=New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs |access-date= 20 January 2015}}

{{Wide image|NZL orthographic NaturalEarth labelled en.svg|500px|The locations of New Zealand (with its major and outlying islands annotated), Niue, Tokelau, and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. The Ross Dependency in Antarctica is also shaded.}}

| {{convert|268680|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}

|-

! colspan="8" | Associated states

|-

| {{flag|Cook Islands}}

| King's Representative

| Prime Minister

| Cook Islands Parliament

| Avarua

| align=right | {{nowrap|17,459 (2016){{Cite web |url=http://www.mfem.gov.ck/census |title=Cook Islands Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, 2016 Census |access-date=11 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828062044/http://www.mfem.gov.ck/census |archive-date=28 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}}}

| {{convert|236|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}

|-

| {{flag|Niue}}

| Representative of the KingThe Governor-General of New Zealand is also the Representative of the King of Niue and the Governor of the Ross Dependency, but they are separate posts.

| Prime Minister

| Niue Assembly

| Alofi

| align=right | 1,784 (2017){{cite web|url=https://niue.prism.spc.int/download/35/census/1460/2019-niue-pophh-census-2-0.pdf|title=Niue Household and Population Census 2017|publisher=Niue Statistics Office|website=niue.prism.spc.int|access-date=5 May 2020}}

| {{convert|260|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}

|-

! colspan="8" | Dependent territories

|-

| Ross Dependency

| Governor

| N/A

| NoneLegislation for the Ross Dependency is enacted by the New Zealand Parliament, though practically this is limited due to the Antarctic Treaty System.

| None (Scott Base)

| align= right | Scott Base: 10–85
McMurdo Station: 200–1,000
(2016–2018; varies according to season){{citation|title=Stations and Ships |url=http://www.usap.gov/USAPgov/travelAndDeployment/documents/ParticipantGuide-Chapter7.pdf |work=U.S. Antarctic Program Participant Guide, 2016–2018 |access-date=26 July 2020 |page=65 |quote=The austral winter population ranges from 150 to 200, with the summer population varying between 800 – 1,000}}

| {{convert|450000|km2|sqmi|disp=table}}

|-

| {{flag|Tokelau}}

| Governor-General of New Zealand

| Ulu-o-Tokelau

| General Fono

| None (Fakaofo)

| align= right | 1,499 (2016){{cite report |title=Final population counts: 2016 Tokelau Census |date=November 2016 |publisher=Statistics New Zealand |page=3 |url=https://www.tokelau.org.nz/site/tokelau/files/TokelauNSO/2016Census/TokelauCensusTechnicalRelease1E.pdf}}

| {{convert|10|km2|sqmi|0|disp=table}}

|}

{{Main|Governor-General of New Zealand}}

The governor-general represents the head of state—currently Charles III, in his capacity as the King of New Zealand—in the area of the realm. Essentially, governors-general take on all the dignities and reserve powers of the head of state. Dame Cindy Kiro took office on 21 October 2021, following the end of Dame Patsy Reddy's term on 28 September 2021.

{{cite news |title=Dame Cindy Kiro to be next Governor-General of New Zealand – Ardern |url= https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/443256/dame-cindy-kiro-to-be-next-governor-general-of-new-zealand-ardern |access-date=28 September 2021 |work=Radio New Zealand |date=24 May 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210524035028/https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/443256/dame-cindy-kiro-to-be-next-governor-general-of-new-zealand-ardern|archive-date=24 May 2021|url-status=live}}

{{Further|Political status of the Cook Islands and Niue}}

[[File:New Zealand (+associated), administrative divisions - Nmbrs - monochrome.svg|thumb|Associated states in relation to New Zealand:

{{Ordered list|New Zealand|Niue|The Cook Islands}}]]

Both the Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand. The details of their free association arrangement are contained in several documents, such as their respective constitutions, the 1983 Exchange of Letters between the governments of New Zealand and the Cook Islands, and the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration. As such, the New Zealand Parliament is not empowered to unilaterally pass legislation in respect of these states. In foreign affairs and defence issues New Zealand acts on behalf of these countries, but only with their advice and consent.{{cite journal |last1=McDonald |first1=Caroline J. |title=An Exemplary Leader?: New Zealand and Decolonization of the Cook Islands and Niue |journal=The Journal of Pacific History |date=4 June 2020 |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=394–417 |doi=10.1080/00223344.2020.1761781 |s2cid=219932547 |issn=0022-3344}}

As the governor-general is resident in New Zealand, the Cook Islands Constitution provides for the distinct position of King's Representative. Appointed by the Cook Islands Government, this position is de jure not subordinate to the governor-general and acts as the local representative of the King in right of New Zealand. Since 2013, Sir Tom Marsters is the King's Representative to the Cook Islands.{{cite news |title=Queen's Rep reappointed |url=http://www.cookislandsnews.com/item/73689-queen-s-rep-reappointed/73689-queen-s-rep-reappointed |access-date=27 July 2020 |work=Cook Islands News |date=8 August 2019 |language=en-gb}}

According to Niue's Constitution of 1974, the governor-general of New Zealand acts as the King's Representative, and exercises the "executive authority vested in the Crown".{{cite web|title = Niue Constitution Act 1974|url = http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1974/0042/latest/DLM412793.html|publisher = New Zealand Legislation|access-date = 5 February 2019}}

In the Cook Islands and Niue, the New Zealand high commissioner is the diplomatic representative from New Zealand. Tui Dewes is the New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, and Helen Tunnah is the New Zealand High Commissioner to Niue.

Despite their close relationship to New Zealand, both the Cook Islands and Niue maintain some diplomatic relations in their own name.{{cite web |title=Cook Islands High Commission |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/cook-islands/cook-islands-high-commission/ |website=www.mfat.govt.nz |publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=26 July 2020 |language=en-NZ}}{{cite web |title=High Commission for Niue, Wellington, New Zealand |url=https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/niue/high-commission-for-niue/ |website=www.mfat.govt.nz |publisher=New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |access-date=26 July 2020 |language=en-NZ}} Both countries maintain high commissions in New Zealand and have New Zealand high commissioners resident in their capitals. In Commonwealth practice, high commissioners represent their governments, rather than the head of state.{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Lorna |title=Diplomacy with a Difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880–2006 |date=2007 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-474-2059-0 |page=172 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeqwCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 |language=en}}

New Zealand is a sovereign state. At the United Nations, the country is identified in the General Assembly as simply "New Zealand", not as the Realm of New Zealand.{{cite book|last1=McIntyre|first1=W. David|title=A guide to the contemporary Commonwealth|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetocontempor00mcin|url-access=limited|date=2001|publisher=Palgrave|location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire|isbn=9781403900951|page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetocontempor00mcin/page/n21 11]}}

New Zealand proper consists of the following island groups:{{cite book|last=Diamond|first=Jared|year=1990|title=New Zealand as an archipelago: An international perspective|pages=3–8|editor1-first=D|editor1-last=Towns|editor2-first=C|editor2-last=Daugherty|editor3-first=I|editor3-last=Atkinson|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/EcologicalRestorationNZIslands.pdf|publisher=Conservation Sciences Publication No. 2. Department of Conservation|location=Wellington}}

• the North Island, South Island, Stewart Island, and the neighbouring coastal islands such as the Solander Islands, all contained within the 16 regions of New Zealand;
• the Chatham Islands to the east, contained within the Chatham Islands Territory;
• the Kermadec Islands and the Three Kings Islands to the north and the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands to the south, all outside local authority boundaries and inhabited only by a small number of research and conservation staff;
• the Ross Dependency, which forms a part of Antarctica, according to the New Zealand government, is constitutionally a part of New Zealand.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100522033422/http://www.mfat.govt.nz/Foreign-Relations/Antarctica/1-New-Zealand-and-Antarctica/index.php New Zealand and Antarctica]. NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 2010 However, New Zealand's claim to this part of Antarctica is recognised by only four other countries.{{cite web |title=Did you know that seven countries have claims in Antarctica? |url=https://nettarkiv.npolar.no/sorpolen2011.npolar.no/en/did-you-know/2011-11-28-seven-countries-have-claims-in-antarctica.html |publisher=Norwegian Polar Institute |access-date=30 August 2020}} In addition, New Zealand's claim to sovereignty is subject to the Antarctic Treaty, which it signed in 1959.{{cite web |title=The Antarctic Treaty |url=https://www.ats.aq/e/antarctictreaty.html |publisher=Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty |access-date=2 May 2020}}

Tokelau has a lesser degree of self-government than the Cook Islands and Niue; it has been moving toward free association status. New Zealand's representative in Tokelau is the administrator of Tokelau (since 2022, Don Higgins),{{Cite web |title=New Administrator of Tokelau announced |url=https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-administrator-tokelau-announced |access-date=3 January 2023 |website=The Beehive |language=en}} who has the power to overturn rules passed by the General Fono (parliament). In referendums conducted in 2006 and 2007 by New Zealand at the United Nations' request, the people of Tokelau failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary to attain a system of governance with equal powers to that of the Cook Islands and Niue.{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10510595|title=Tokelau decolonisation high on agenda|date=17 May 2008|agency=NZPA|work=The New Zealand Herald|access-date=23 November 2011}}

{{See also|Republicanism in New Zealand}}

A 2016 poll showed 59 per cent of the population supported changing New Zealand's system of government from a monarchy to a republic, with a New Zealand resident as head of state.{{cite news |title=Nearly 60 per cent of Kiwis want the British Monarchy out – poll |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83864989/nearly-60-per-cent-of-kiwis-want-the-british-monarchy-out--poll |access-date=27 July 2020 |work=Stuff.co.nz |date=3 September 2016 |language=en-NZ}} Should New Zealand become a republic, it would retain the Ross Dependency and Tokelau as dependent territories and the Realm of New Zealand would continue to exist without New Zealand, the Ross Dependency and Tokelau.{{cite web|author=Townend, Andrew|year=2003|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/nz/journals/VUWLawRw/2003/34.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=Townend,%20Andrew%20(2003)|title=The Strange Death of the Realm of New Zealand: The Implications of a New Zealand Republic for the Cook Islands and Niue|publisher=Victoria University of Wellington Law Review|issue=34|access-date=25 July 2010}} This would not be a legal hurdle to a New Zealand republic as such, and both the Cook Islands and Niue would retain their free association with New Zealand. Rights to abode and citizenship, codified in New Zealand legislation by the Citizenship Act 1977, would not change.{{sfn|Quentin-Baxter & McLean|2017|p=114}}

However, a New Zealand republic would present the issue of continued allegiance to the monarch in the Cook Islands and Niue.{{sfn|Quentin-Baxter & McLean|2017|p=115}} Thus, a number of options for the future of the Realm of New Zealand exist should New Zealand become a republic with the Cook Islands and Niue either:

• remaining in free association with New Zealand, but retaining the King or Queen as their head of state;
• having the "republican" New Zealand head of state as their head of state and becoming independent states;
• having their own heads of state, but retaining their status of free association with New Zealand.

{{Portal|New Zealand}}

• Dominion of New Zealand
• History of Nauru – a country where New Zealand was nominal co-trustee during a period of League of Nations mandate and later UN Trust Territory
• History of Samoa – a country formerly under New Zealand administration as League of Nations mandate and UN Trust Territory
• Monarchy of the Cook Islands
• Monarchy of New Zealand
• Monarchy of Niue
• Pitcairn Islands – New Zealand is involved in several aspects of Pitcairn governance, such as law enforcement and the Pitcairn Supreme Court. The UK high commissioner to New Zealand is governor of Pitcairn.

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |author-link1=Alison Quentin-Baxter|last1=Quentin-Baxter |first1=Alison |last2=McLean |first2=Janet |title=This Realm of New Zealand: The Sovereign, the Governor-General, the Crown|url=http://www.press.auckland.ac.nz/en/browse-books/all-books/books-2017/this-realm-of-new-zealand--the-sovereign--the-governor-general--.html|date=2017 |publisher=Auckland University Press |isbn=978-1-869-40875-6|ref={{sfnref|Quentin-Baxter & McLean|2017}}}}

{{refend}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20031003003834/http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/cabinet/manual/letters_patent_constituting.html Letters Patent constituting the office of Governor-General of New Zealand] – gives explanation for the term "Realm of New Zealand"
• NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade:
• [https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/australia-and-pacific/cook-islands/ Country profile: Cook Islands]
• [https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/australia-and-pacific/niue/ Country profile: Niue]
• [https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/our-aid-partnerships-in-the-pacific/tokelau/ About Tokelau]

{{Commonwealth realms}}

{{Administrative divisions of New Zealand}}

{{Languages of New Zealand}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Realm of New Zealand}}

New Zealand

Category:Government of New Zealand

Category:Constitution of New Zealand

Category:States and territories established in 1983

New Zealand

Category:Government of the Cook Islands

Category:Government of Niue

Category:Government of Tokelau

Category:1983 establishments in Oceania