Law and Government | The Government of New Zealand

Running head: LAW AND GOVERNMENT
Law and Government
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Introduction
The Government of New Zealand operates on the two sections of the country like the
North Island and the South Island. The country is located at the banks of the Pacific Ocean and it
is an island country. The government of the country controls over 600 smaller islands and several
territories including that of the Maoris (Govt.nz, 2020). The roles of the government will be
discussed in this paper along with its election process and the ways it carries out its different
operations. The departments and divisions of the government will be discussed on this paper so
the reads can get a view of the entire thing. Various other factors related to the proper running of
the government would also be discussed in this paper. The voting system and the governance
process are most significant issues on how the government controls the people of the country and
acts as per the legislations of New Zealand.
Forms of the New Zealand Government
As New Zealand is a democratic federal country, the general elections are held once in
every 3 years and the representatives of the government are elected through these elections.
According to the critics, the actual nature of the New Zealand government is like the
constitutional monarchy and it runs through the parliamentary system of the government. The
head of the country is the sovereign monarch i.e. Queen Elizabeth III at the current moment
(Govt.nz, 2020). The representation of the queen is done through the Governor-General of the
country. Dame Pasty Reddy holds this position of the Governor-General of the country.
The voting system implemented in New Zealand is the Mixed Member Proportional
(MMP) system that determines that any single political party will not be able to win the majority
of the seats in the country. The three major political parties in New Zealand are National, Greens

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and Labor Party. When one party receives the maximum number of votes, they are liable to form
the coalition with another party or both the parties. The government of New Zealand runs its
systems as a ‘responsible government’ (Govt.nz, 2020).
Through this method, the ministers of the NZ government are made up of the first
members who have been elected in the House of Representatives. According to the constitution
of the country, the government will be able to stay in the power while it has the majority of
members in their parliament. Therefore, it will require the trust of the people and they should
operate for the best interest of their common people only.
This means the Government can be in power till it has the confidence of the House of
Representatives. The Government of Aotearoa also works in the similar fashion since it has to
choose their representatives through the common process of Mixed Member Proportion voting
system (Govt.nz, 2020).
Structure of the Government
The Government of New Zealand operates through three branches that are necessary for
the formation of the government properly. Otherwise, people will lose their faith in the
government and demand for elections on an emergency basis. They deploy the strategy of
‘separation of powers’ that makes sure that no single part of the government has too much of
power. The three branches of the NZ government are the Judiciary, Executive and the
Legislation (Govt.nz, 2020). The equal distribution of power among these three branches assures
that they will take actions on the basis of necessity and no one will be deprived of their rights or
facilities within the country. Here Aotearoa denotes the Maori name of New Zealand and it
attributes the importance of the Maori groups within the country (Matthews, 2015). This

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signifies the government of New Zealand has the huge responsibility of protecting the Maori
people, their culture and traditions since it is the primary identity of the country of New Zealand.
The legislature department of the NZ government has some important roles to play like
providing the members of parliament to the government and keep a check on all the actions of
the Executive department. They also have the power to question the actions if these are deemed
to be unethical or violation of their power (Govt.nz, 2020). The legislature department of the
New Zealand is liable for making the new laws and updates all the older laws. They also look at
the bills very carefully which later become the laws. The legislature department is presented as
the voice for the New Zealanders as ir reflects various innovative ideas to the governments
(James, 2015). The taxes of the government are approved and the data of spending for various
projects is calculated by the Legislature department also.
The Executive branch of the New Zealand government is definitely one of the most
powerful and influential sections of their structure (Ward, 2015). This department is responsible
for taking all the day to day decisions and give orders on how the states should be run properly
(Govt.nz, 2020). The Executive department employs the administrators and other staff at various
regions of the country who look after all the activities and report back about any discrepancies
that might take place in the country (Kelsey, 2015).
The Executive department also makes the several decisions on which projects they should
spend the money on. It overlooks all the necessary sections like primary, secondary and higher
education, health facilities furnished throughout the country and putting all the things right in
terms of providing best solutions to all the problems within the country. The Executive

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department also makes the policies and implements them according to their needs in the different
regions of the country (Gluckman, 2014).
Lastly the Judiciary section comprises of the judges and the courts. The judges are
responsible for the hearing of the cases that are brought before them (Hartley et al., 2015). They
hear and decide upon the cases and finally they tend to make the most of the available resources
and leave the implementation part of their verdict on the government process (Kelsey, 2015).
The collaboration process between these departments makes the government systems roll out
smoothly and helps them a lot to observe their responsibilities adequately.
Roles and responsibilities of the New Zealand government
The most crucial part of the government of New Zealand is to look after their people. If
they cannot provide their people with sense of security and safety, that particular government
loses the trust completely (Gluckman, 2014). The Government will always have to play the role
of the guardian for all the people in the country. Otherwise, there is no validation of the
government. The government should always be liable for making strategic decisions with the
neighboring countries that would provide them with the means for staying strong in the moments
of difficulties or foreign aggression (Spoonley, 2015).
The Government of NZ should also be alert and prepare their defense forces at the
various borders and make preparations for their training and development. This would allow
them to make the country safe enough in all the situations (Ericksen, Berke & Dixon, 2017). The
Government is also responsible for making business contracts with other countries in the West
and Asian countries like China, Japan, Thailand, India and others. The Free Trade Agreement
option is also open for the country that would assists them to develop the economy and higher

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the GDP growth of the country. The Government will divide between different council agencies
that will take care of the different perspectives like the problems of the common people. The NZ
Government is supposed to provide a formidable lifestyle to all the New Zealanders including
the Maoris to live a quality life (Ericksen, Berke & Dixon, 2017). They must collaborate with
various private organizations and NGOs. The concept of the human rights must also be ensured
by the Government at different situations.
The well being of the common people of New Zealand is another important role for the
Government of New Zealand. Many times people of the country face certain problems that they
have to get over positively (McLaren, 2018). The Government has to take all the precautionary
measures through which all these issues can be curbed and people can enjoy a sustainable life.
The Government should make surveys on the issues and challenges the common people face at
different parts of the country. Some reforms and changes have been done in this regard
(Sargisson & Sargent, 2017). The Government has taken the steps of privatization and
corporatization of their state owned enterprises (SOE) so they can work better and provide a
smooth performance for the common people.
Conclusion
The conclusion of the paper can be drawn by saying that the roles and responsibilities of
the Government of New Zealand are very complicated but they have the resources to sort the
things out. The responsible government structure would provide them with all the opportunities
that would keep them at the heart of the country and get the motivation of serving people better.
Their works will be helpful for people to sustain people’s lives and provide them social safety by

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all measures. The three branches of the government will always work in collaboration for the
best outcomes for the sake of the common people.

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References
Ericksen, N. J., Berke, P. R., & Dixon, J. E. (2017). Plan-making for sustainability: The New
Zealand experience. Taylor & Francis.
Gluckman, P. (2014). Policy: The art of science advice to government. Nature News, 507(7491),
163.
Govt.nz, (2020). How Government Works. [online] New Zealand Government. Available at:
<https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/government-in-new-zealand/>
[Accessed 12 April 2020].
Hartley, J., Alford, J., Hughes, O., & Yates, S. (2015). Public value and political astuteness in the
work of public managers: The art of the possible. Public Administration, 93(1), 195-211.
James, C. (2015). New territory: the transformation of New Zealand, 1984–92. Bridget Williams
Books.
Kelsey, J. (2015). The New Zealand experiment: A world model for structural adjustment?.
Bridget Williams Books.
Matthews, D. (2015). 3 reasons why New Zealand has the best-designed government in the
world. Retrieved 12 April 2020, from https://www.vox.com/2014/9/23/6831777/new-
zealand-electoral-system-constitution-mixed-member-unicameral
McLaren, I. A. (2018). Education in a small democracy: New Zealand. Routledge.
Sargisson, L., & Sargent, L. T. (2017). Living in utopia: New Zealand’s intentional communities.
Routledge.

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Spoonley, P. (2015). New diversity, old anxieties in New Zealand: The complex identity politics
and engagement of a settler society. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(4), 650-661.
Ward, A. (2015). An unsettled history: Treaty claims in New Zealand today. Bridget Williams
Books.