Timeline: The Case for Constitutional Reform
RESOURCE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND 1993
1835 Declaration of Independence
Colonial Office and British Government recognise NZ as sovereign state.
1840 Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty upheld Maori right to complete authority but was understood by Pakeha and the Crown as ceding sovereignty.
1840 Royal Charter
Division of country into three parts but never given political effect.
1840 Hobson’s Declaration of Sovereignty
Declared sovereignty over the South island by right of discovery.
1846 Constitution Act
Authority to establish representative institutions locally. Never fully implemented.
1852 Constitution Act
2-chamber legislature established. Powers limited by the British Colonial office and the Governor. Also, 6 one-chamber Provincial councils under the National Body established.
1852 Male voting qualifications established
Males over 21 with some property are entitled to vote. As most Maori held land in common they failed to qualify.
1854 First General Assembly opened
Auckland
1856 Appointment of First Ministry
This was under “Responsible Government” with Sewell as Premier of Pakeha minority government.
1858 New Provinces Act
Provinces defined on basis of population.
1860 Kohimarama Conference
Gore Brown at this conference attempted to isolate Taranaki following the Waitara Purchase, in preparation for making war on Taranaki. On the Maori side it reasserted the primacy of the Treaty.
1862 Native Lands Act
Removed the Crown’s right to pre-emption which had offered some protection to Maori land ownership.
1863 New Zealand Settlement Act
Provided for the confiscation of Maori land. Colonial Government also stated its intention to assume control of Maori affairs. Beginning of the Waikato Invasion.
1864 Native Reserves Act
Permitted long leases of Maori land for peppercorn rentals.
1865 Capital moved to Wellington
End of Waikato war
1865 Native Land Act
Set up the Maori Land Court to determine titles of Maori Land
1867 Maori Representation Act
Creation of 4 Maori seats. Maori markedly unrepresented. 4 seats for a population of about 50,000 compared with 72 European seats for a population of approximately 170,000. All adult male Maori entitled to vote.
This act was made necessary because of the war and the fact that the Maori Land Court had, by 1867, made inroads to collective titles thus making by default more Maori able to vote in the Pakeha electorates. To prevent an imbalance in Pakeha power, they established the 4 Maori seats, thus ensuring Maori were a permanent minority in the political system. 3 of the 4 were to be in the North to prevent giving the South Island more say, rather than having anything to do with population distribution.
1876 Maori seats made permanent
The Maori seats had been a temporary creation
1879 Triennial Parliament Act
Adult male suffrage established. Now all adult males can vote, regardless of property ownership.
1889 Plural voting abolished
1890 Elections
First election under one-man, one-vote system
1893 Women get the vote
Maori women vote under the same conditions as Maori men. Abolition of the provision of 1867 which allowed Maori who met the property qualification to vote in both constituencies.
1919 – 1951 Maori voting
Held the day before the election of European seats
1937 Secret balloting for Maori begun
Until 1910 voting in Maori seats had been by show of hands. Secret balloting for European seats had been established in 1870
1949 Maori Electoral Roll established
European roll had been established in 1852
1950 Legislative Council (Upper House) abolished
1956 Maori legally obliged to enrol
European enrolment made compulsory in 1924
1967 Maori can stand in European electorates
Unable to do so prior to this date
1975 Electoral Amendment Act
Provided for each Maori seat to be set after each census on the basis of the same population quota used to determine the number of general seats. Never came about because the National Government repealed it as soon as it was elected at the end of 1975
1984
On average every general electorate population group of 32,000 was represented by an MP but for Maori there was only 1 MP for every 72,500 people.
1984 Ngaruawahia Conference
Considered constitutional questions relating to the Treaty. Sponsored by Te Runanga Whakawhanaunga and NZ Maori Council.
1985 Runanga call to boycott the elections
Proposed a constitutional conference.
1992 Sea Lord Fishing Deal
Treaty Rights to Fisheries extinguished
1993 MMP Referendum
1994 Maori option for Maori or General roll
The process was challenged in the Courts. The Court ruled that the process fell short of what could have been done, but a re-run of the option was refused.
1995 Treaty Settlement proposals (Fiscal Envelope)
Treaty rights to be removed
1995 Hirangi Hui
In response to the “Government’s Proposals for the Settlement of Treaty Claims”. Proposed an alternate approach of constitutional reform based on the Treaty.
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