United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices 1998 - New Zealand, 26 February 1999, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aa4c1c.html [accessed 6 June 2023]
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New Zealand is a parliamentary democracy, with executive authority vested in an 18-member cabinet led by a prime minister. Five seats in the 120-member Parliament are reserved for the native Maori minority population. The judiciary is independent. The Cook Islands and Niue are self-governing states in free association with New Zealand. Tokelau is a New Zealand territory. Their local laws are compatible with New Zealand and British common law. The police and defense forces are responsible to and firmly controlled by civilian officials. New Zealand is a highly efficient producer of agricultural products. The mainstay of its market-based economy is the export of wool, meat, and dairy products. An expanding manufacturing sector is engaged primarily in food processing, metal fabrication, and the production of wood and paper products. Tourism is also a significant sector of the economy, and niche industries are developing in such high technology sectors as software production. Disparities in wealth are small but increasing. Most citizens enjoy a comfortable standard of living. The Government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with instances of abuse. The Government has taken steps to address the problems of overcrowded prisons, violence against women, and societal discrimination against indigenous people.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial killings.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The law prohibits torture and other forms of mistreatment, and the Government respects these prohibitions in practice. Prison conditions generally meet minimum international standards. The Government addressed persistent reports of overcrowding in recent years through the addition of new cell capacity (428 new cells added in 1997 and 348 in 1998). As of September, the average inmate population was 5,200 (with a maximum capacity of 5,869 beds). Conditions at the older remand facilities at Mount Eden in Auckland and Christchurch (where slop buckets are still used in place of toilets) continue to cause concern. During the year, the Government accelerated construction to replace these older remand facilities and planned to complete the new 275-cell remand facility next to Mount Eden Prison by year's end and the new 180cell remand prison in Christchurch in 1999. With inmate numbers expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future (current projections anticipate inmate populations of 5,820 by the year 2000 and 6,700 by the year 2005), the Government plans to invest $4 million (approximately $NZ 8 million) in the next 3 years for a new cognitive skills program entitled "straight thinking," which is designed to reduce recidivism rates by 10 percent. Prisons are also making greater use of intensive specialized programs, such as "kia marama," which has halved the rate of recidivism for participating sex offenders. Due to historically higher suicide rates among Maori inmates, the Department of Corrections continued to implement recommendations taken from a 1996 report entitled "Reducing Suicide by Maori Inmates." The most recent data from the end of 1997 indicated some progress with a suicide rate across the whole inmate population of 1.0 per 1,000 inmates (down from 1.43 suicides per 1,000 inmates in the period from 1993-96). Notably, Maori suicides also declined. The Department has trained more than 98 percent of its prison officers in suicide awareness. The Government permits prison visits by human rights monitors.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The law prohibits arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile, and the Government observes these prohibitions.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The law provides for an independent judiciary, and the Government respects this provision in practice. The judiciary provides citizens with a fair and efficient judicial process. There is a three-tiered impartial judiciary in place, with the right of appeal to the Privy Council in London, though this privilege is rarely invoked. The law provides for the right to a fair trial, and the judiciary implements this provision. There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference With Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The law prohibits such practices, government authorities respect these prohibitions, and violations are subject to effective legal sanction.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the Government respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech and of the press. Academic freedom is not limited.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The law provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice.
c. Freedom of Religion
The law provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
The law provides for these rights, and the Government respects them in practice. The Government cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. Under its own refugee quota, the Government accepts up to 750 UNHCR-approved refugees per year. Due to the continuing dramatic increases in "spontaneous" first asylum applications in the past 3 years, the Government hired 13 new determination officers (bringing the total to 19). In 1997 the Government received 1,700 first asylum applications, adjudicated 752 (approving 23 percent), and carried over a backlog of 1,000 cases. In 1998 the Government planned to adjudicate 1,300 applications (almost double the previous year's total) while continuing to address its growing backlog (2,700 cases as of September) within 3 years. There were no reports of forced expulsion of persons with a valid claim to refugee status.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The law provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercise this right in practice through periodic, free, and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. A new electoral system, mixed-member proportional representation, was used in the October 12 general election with 27 political parties participating. Women and minorities are accorded full opportunity to participate in political life. In the 120-member Parliament, 35 seats are held by women; 15 by Maori; 2 members are of Pacific Island origin; and 1 is of Asian heritage. The Executive Council has 23 ministers (18 within the Cabinet and 5 outside the Cabinet) including 3 Maori and 3 woman (one of whom is the Prime Minister).
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A number of human rights groups operate without government restriction, investigating allegations and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials are cooperative and responsive to their views.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status
The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of all the above listed factors, and the Government effectively enforces it. Women Violence against women is a major problem that cuts across all socioeconomic groups. A 1997 government-sponsored academic survey indicated that 1 woman in 16 was likely to be sexually assaulted each year and that 35 percent of men have physically abused a female partner at some time in their lives. It found that Maori and Pacific Islander women were particularly at risk and that multiple, violent victimization in these communities was common. The 1997 government report entitled "Maori Family Violence in Aotearoa" recommended more direct Maori community involvement to combat all types of family violence, particularly battery against Maori women, and promised a 10year dialog on addressing these pervasive problems. The law penalizes spousal rape. The Government convicted individuals on this charge in 1998. The National Collective of Rape Crisis groups, a private nonprofit organization, claimed that the majority of cases go unreported each year and that, of the cases that go to the police, only 10 to 15 percent end in convictions. The group reported that husbands and boyfriends commit about 25 percent of all sexual assaults. The Domestic Violence Act, which came into effect in 1996, broadened the definition of violence to include psychological abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, and allowing children to witness psychological abuse. It expanded intervention measures, such as the use of protection orders; education programs for men, women, and children; stronger police powers to arrest and detain offenders; improved access to legal services for women eligible for legal aid; and tougher penalties for breach of a protection order. The Government's strategy to prevent family violence included a range of objectives such as providing victim support, incorporating successful innovations and proven methods from family violence centers into the national family violence programs (that is, the promotion of "best practice"), ensuring safety from violence, and implementing Maori-designed and delivered programs. The Government partially funded women's refuges, rape crisis centers, sexual abuse counseling, family violence networks, and violence prevention services. While the law prohibits discrimination in employment and in rates of pay for equal or similar work, government documents acknowledge that in practice a gender earnings gap persists. Many statistics show that women earn 81 percent of men's average ordinary hourly wage, a rate that has been fairly static over the last decade. A 1997 report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research indicated that the gender pay gap was unlikely to narrow over the next 5 years based on current industry trends. To mark the 25th anniversary of the equal pay act of 1972, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions is developing a 3-year campaign to achieve equal pay. There are effective legal remedies available for women who experience discrimination. Children The law provides specific safeguards for children's rights and protection. The Government demonstrates its commitment to children's rights and welfare through its well-funded systems of public education and medical care. Female genital mutilation (FGM), which is widely condemned by international health experts as damaging to both physical and psychological health, historically is not known to have been practiced in New Zealand. It is illegal to perform FGM or to make arrangements for a child to be taken outside the country in order to perform it. The Government has been concerned due to a continuing increase in arrivals in the immigrant communities most likely to practice FGM, that is, Somali, Sudanese, and Ethiopian immigrants. The Government funded an intensive 6-month national FGM awareness campaign from October 1997 through May, organizing workshops and the distribution of educational materials targeted at health care professionals, child care networks, police officers, and other public officials, and community-based organizations. This national program effectively was extended for an additional 14 months by one of New Zealand's regional health authorities to continue to work directly in the African refugee communities. While no societal pattern of abuse of children exists, the Government recognizes the problem of violence within the family. Both government-sponsored and charitable organizations work to prevent child abuse in the home. People With Disabilities The law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, education, and the provision of other state services. Compliance with access laws, mandated by the Disabled Persons Community Welfare Act, varies as business owners and others strive to make necessary adaptations. Indigenous People Approximately 13 percent of the population claim at least one ancestor from the country's indigenous Maori or Moriori minorities. While the law prohibits discrimination against the indigenous population, a 1998 government report entitled "Progress Towards Closing Social and Economic Gaps Between Maori and nonMaori" noted the continuing disproportionate number of Maori included in the unemployment and welfare rolls, the prison population, school dropouts, infant mortality statistics, and single-parent households. Government policy recognizes a special role for indigenous people and their traditional values and customs, including cultural and environmental issues that have an effect on commercial development. The Ministry of Maori Development, in cooperation with several Maori nongovernmental organizations, seeks to improve the status of indigenous people. A special tribunal continues to hear Maori tribal claims to land and other natural resources stemming from the Treaty of Waitangi. National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities Pacific Islanders, who make up 5 percent of the population, are not an indigenous people, but they experience difficulties similar to Maori.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Workers have unrestricted rights to establish and join organizations of their own choosing and to affiliate these organizations with other unions and international organizations. The principal labor organization, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, is affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. A second, smaller national labor federation, the New Zealand Trade Union Federation, was established in 1993. There are also a number of independent labor unions. Labor organization is rudimentary in the territory of Tokelau (population 1,800) and in the Freely Associated State of Niue (population 2,000). In the more developed Associated State of the Cook Islands (population 18,000), most workers in the public sector, the major employer, belong to independent local unions inspired by New Zealand models. Industrial relations in the Cook Islands are governed by a simplified version of older national legislation. The law protects unions from governmental interference, suspension, and dissolution. Unions, in fact, influence legislation and government policy. Some unions are affiliated with the Labor Party; others operate independently of political parties; all are free to support parties whose policies they favor. They freely exercise the right to strike. The law prohibits strikes designed to force an employer to become party to a multicompany contract. Under the Police Act of 1958 and amendments, "sworn police officers," that is, all uniformed and plainclothes police but excluding clerical and support staff, are barred from striking or taking any form of industrial action. Police, however, have freedom of association and the right to organize and to bargain collectively. Issues that cannot be settled by negotiation between the Police Association and management are subject to compulsory, final-offer arbitration.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law provides for the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively, and this is observed in practice in the country and its dependencies. The law prohibits uniformed members of the armed forces from organizing unions and bargaining collectively. Unions now represent fewer than half of all wage earners. Under the Employment Contracts Act, employment relationships are based on contracts. Individual employees and employers may choose to conduct negotiations for employment contracts on their own behalf, or they may authorize any other person or organization to do so on their behalf. Although choosing a union is entirely voluntary, unions have remained the most common agent used by workers to negotiate with employers. Employers must recognize a representative authorized by an employee or employees. Neither employers or employees, however, are required to negotiate or to agree to a contract. The Government does not control mediation and arbitration procedures. The employment court hears cases arising from disputes over the interpretation of labor laws. A less formal body, the employment tribunal, is available to handle wage disputes and assist in maintaining effective labor relations. Firing an employee for union activities is grounds for a finding of unjustified dismissal and may result in reinstatement and financial compensation. There are no export processing zones in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including forced and bonded labor by children. Inspection and legal penalties ensure respect for the provisions.
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment
The Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor and enforces this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.c.). Department of Labor inspectors effectively enforce a ban on the employment of children under the age of 15 years in manufacturing, mining, and forestry. Children under the age of 16 may not work between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. In addition to explicit restrictions on the employment of children, compulsory education ensures that children under the minimum age for leaving school (now 16 years) are not employed during school hours. By law children enrolled in school may not be employed, even outside school hours, if such employment would interfere with their education.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The law provides for a 40-hour workweek, with a minimum 3week annual paid vacation, and 11 paid public holidays. Under the Employment Contracts Act, however, employers and employees may agree to longer hours than the 40 hours per week standard. While the law does not provide specifically for a 24-hour rest period weekly, management and labor accept the practice, and it is the norm. The governmentmandated hourly minimum wage of approximately $3.50 ($NZ 7.00) applies to workers 20 years of age and older. Combined with other regularly provided entitlements and welfare benefits for lowincome earners, this wage is adequate to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. In 1994 a minimum wage for younger workers was introduced at 60 percent of the adult minimum. A majority of the work force earns more than the minimum wage. An extensive body of law and regulations govern health and safety issues, notably the Health and Safety in Employment Act of 1992. Under this legislation, employers are obliged to provide a safe and healthy work environment, and employees are responsible for their own safety and health as well as ensuring that their actions do not harm others. The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions has criticized the act, however, for not providing sufficient employee involvement in workplace decisions affecting health and safety. Under the Employment Contracts Act, workers have the legal right to strike over health and safety issues. Unions and members of the general public may file safety complaints on behalf of workers. Department of Labor inspectors enforce safety and health rules, and they have the power to shut down equipment if necessary. The Department of Labor standard is to investigate reports of unsafe or unhealthy working conditions within 24 hours of notification. Workers have the right to withdraw from a dangerous work situation without jeopardy to continued employment.
