Politics

New Zealand has a parliamentary system of government closely patterned on that of the United Kingdom and is a fully independent member of the Commonwealth. It has no written constitution. Executive authority is vested in a cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the leader of the political party or coalition of parties holding the majority of seats in parliament. All cabinet ministers must be members of parliament and are collectively responsible to it. 

The unicameral parliament (House of Representatives) has 120 seats, six of which currently are reserved for Maori elected on a separate Maori roll. However, Maori also may run for, and have been elected to, nonreserved seats. Parliaments are elected for a maximum term of 3 years, although elections can be called sooner. The judiciary consists of the Court of Appeals, the High Court, and the District Courts. New Zealand law has three principal sources--English common law, certain statutes of the UK Parliament enacted before 1947, and statutes of the New Zealand Parliament. In interpreting common law, the courts have been concerned with preserving uniformity with common law as interpreted in the United Kingdom. This uniformity is ensured by the maintenance of the Privy Council in London as the final court of appeal and by judges' practice of following British decisions, even though, technically, they are not bound by them. 

Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by parliament. The country's 12 regional councils are directly elected, set their own tax rates, and have a chairman elected by their members. Regional council responsibilities include environmental management, regional aspects of civil defense, and transportation planning. The 74 "territorial authorities"--15 city councils, 58 district councils in rural areas, and one county council for the Chatham Islands--are directly elected, raise local taxes at rates they themselves set, and are headed by popularly elected mayors.  

The Hon John Key, Prime Minister 

The Hon John Key took office on 19 November 2008 after his National Party (NP) won the 8 November general election. Mr Key was born on 9 August 1961 in Auckland. He is concurrently Tourism Minister. 

Mr Key was elected as NP leader in November 2006 after becoming its Spokesperson on Finance in 2004. He won a parliamentary seat in 2002 as an NP representative for Helensville. He was a member of the Foreign Exchange Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1999 to 2001. 

He had earlier worked for Merrill Lynch in Singapore, London and Sydney. Mr Key started his career in investment banking in the mid-1980s. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.