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New Zealand

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

October 2024

New divorce law to protect domestic abuse victims

New Zealand lawmakers unanimously passed a law on 10 October exempting victims of domestic violence from a mandatory two-year period of separation before they can divorce. Proponents of the law described it as removing a legal requirement that victims of domestic abuse remained “tethered” to their abusers until divorce proceedings could be finalized. The new law is intended to help deal with what lawmakers consider one of New Zealand’s most deeply rooted social problems. According to police, annual domestic violence investigations increased by 49 per cent between 2017 and 2023.

Sources: Associated Press, New Zealand Herald

July 2024

Commission finds epidemic of abuse in care

New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that nearly 1 in 3 children and adults placed under state care from 1950 to 2019 were subjected to abuse or torture. The report “detailed a litany of abuses in state and faith-based care, including rape, sterilization and electric shocks” and counted about 200,000 victims in the nation of 5.3 million. The report also found that Maori and New Zealanders with disabilities had been more vulnerable to abuse. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon apologized at a press conference on 24 July and promised an official state apology would follow on 12 November. The government promised reforms and plans to make financial redress to victims, which the report estimated would cost the state NZD 217 billion (USD 132 billion).

Sources: Reuters, Newsroom

Report shines spotlight on Maori rights

Experts and legal academics described a July 2024 overview of the ruling coalition’s planned and implemented changes to policies affecting Maori in New Zealand as “chilling”, “dangerous”, and “the worst assault on Māori I’ve seen in my 40-year career.” To date the coalition has disestablished the Maori Health Authority, reduced Maori language use in public authorities, and revoked state support for “Section 27” background reports for offenders undergoing sentencing that were commonly used by Maori defendants. The laws and bills summarized by the Guardian newspaper covered six broad policy areas – health, treaty and language, justice, social and housing and education – that either explicitly or implicitly disproportionately impacted Maori New Zealanders. Maori account for 20 per cent of New Zealand’s population but make up 50 per cent of incarcerated people. Government representatives either declined or did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment.

Sources: The Guardian (1), The Guardian (2), Radio New Zealand

June 2024

Government introduces media content law
Watch flag

New Zealand’s ruling coalition has introduced a law that will require digital platform companies like Meta and X (formerly known as Twitter) to pay media outlets for news. The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill is closely aligned with Australia’s News Media Bargaining Law and would force digital platforms to reach compensation deals with New Zealand media outlets. The bill comes after a long-running media financing crisis in the country that has seen increased media concentration and a significant reduction in the number of working journalists in the country.

Sources: Reuters, International IDEA, Radio New Zealand

April 2024

Media crisis deepens

A years-long crisis in New Zealand’s media industry worsened significantly enough in March and April 2024 that observers are raising concerns over the industry’s ability to adequately inform the public and hold politicians to account. Television and online news company Newshub announced it would shut down on 10 April and lay off nearly 300 staff. With its closure and layoffs elsewhere over the last several months, the country now has only one television news service, the state-owned broadcaster TVNZ – which also reduced its news programming and laid off 60 news journalists in April. While media around the world have struggled to adjust their business models to the internet age, the situation is particularly acute in New Zealand, where the number of working journalists has declined from 4071 in 2000 to 1674 today. Media concentration has become severe, as 78.5 per cent of journalists work for one of five employers. Public relations professionals now outnumber their media counterparts by as much as ten to one, leading one observer to label New Zealand “a public relations democracy” and others to raise concerns over the consequences for freedom of media and expression in the country.

Sources: The Guardian, Radio New Zealand, The Spinoff, New Zealand Herald, The Conversation

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023

Chevron
Representation
16/173
Rights
16/173
Rule of Law
6/173
Participation
45/173

Basic Information

Chevron
Population Tooltip
5 124 100
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (since 2023)
Head of government party
National Party
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
Mixed Member Proportional system
Women in lower or single chamber
45.5%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2023
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
4.1
Head of state
King Charles III
Selection process for head of state
Hereditary or election by hereditary state rulers
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
29/04/2024
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
Outcome decision pending
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
No Action
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
No Action
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
No Action
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
in
Tooltip text

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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time

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