Suchergebnisse

2007 was a good year for discussing New Zealand's independence. On 26 September 2007 New Zealand marked the centennial of the first Dominion Day in 1907, which was hailed at the time as New Zealand's 'Fourth of July'. On 25 November 2007 New Zealand reached the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Statute of Westminster. There are, however, other dates to celebrate. The Statute of Westminster received assent on 11 December 1931 and, in the words of two Australian scholars, 'independence given is not somehow inferior to independence taken'. New Zealand was separately represented for the first time at two international conferences in 1912 and by signing the League of Nations Covenant in 1919 became recognised as a separate actor in international affairs. In spite of this achievement of political and diplomatic independence many were reluctant to accept full sovereignty. The famous 'status formula' of 1926, by which New Zealand accepted equality of status and free association with Britain and the other Dominions, was regarded as a 'poisonous document' by the Prime Minister of the day. After taking an independent line in the League of Nations and making a separate decision to go to war in 1939, New Zealand Prime Minister Peter Fraser could say that Dominion status was 'independence with something added'. But he dropped the title 'Dominion' in 1945; the country joined the United Nations as 'New Zealand'. The Head of State was cited as 'Queen of New Zealand' in 1953. In 1986 Parliament authorised its own existence and repealed the Statute of Westminster as part of New Zealand law. In place of a revolutionary moment and national declaration, what occurred was a peaceful, gradual process of constitutional evolution, rather subtle and satisfying. Adapted from the source document.

Traces origins and history of headship of the British king as symbol of free association of Commonwealth members, from its proposal in 1921 to its acceptance by India in 1949 and Ireland's withdrawal from the Commonwealth in the same year.

The image of an iceberg is used to analyze New Zealand's role in the Commonwealth at all levels. The visible tip is made up of the Commonwealth Games, the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth, & the CHOGMs. Hidden beneath the waterline of popular attention are three layers: the political/official Commonwealth of ministerial consultations & intergovernmental organizations; the "People's Commonwealth" of NGOs & civil society; & the "Corporate Commonwealth" of the Business Forum & the "Commonwealth business culture." The Commonwealth was New Zealand's original "window on the world" &, along with GB & Canada, New Zealand is one of the "Group of Three" that participated in all the consultations since 1887. Today, the Commonwealth is only one of numerous international forums, where the country pursues its interests. But with a New Zealander as Secretary-General, & with considerable affinity with the Commonwealth's small state majority, New Zealand has found a regional role in the South Pacific as a substitute for its former role as a adjunct to British (then American) power. Adapted from the source document.