Provinces of New Zealand

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The provinces of New Zealand emerged in the years 1840 to 1876 from an administrative structure that was changed several times in the former British colony of New Zealand . After its dissolution in 1876 the administration of the country by was boroughs (municipalities) and counties (districts) made, which in turn in 1989 by Cities (cities), Districts (Districts) and Regions (regions) replaced.

After New Zealand gained independence as a state, the provinces were called Provincial Districts . Its only official function today is to draw the boundary for the date of Provincial Anniversary Day (with the exception of the Chatham Islands , Northland and South Canterbury ).

1840 to 1853

When New Zealand became its own colony, separate from New South Wales in 1840 , three provinces were created:

In 1846 the British Parliament passed the first New Zealand Constitution Act , which was later repealed almost completely on the advice of Governor George Gray . The only implemented measure was a reduction to two provinces:

  • New Ulster (entire North Island)
  • New Munster (entire South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura)

In addition, the provinces became for the first time an administrative unit separate from the central government.

In 1848 the province of New Munster was extended to the south of the Patea River on the North Island at the expense of the province of New Ulster .

1853 to 1876

The first six provinces were formed by the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 . These were Auckland , New Plymouth , Wellington , Nelson , Canterbury and Otago . Each province received its own legislature , the Provincial Council, and elected a superintendent who was not a member of the council. The councils elected a speaker at their first post-election meeting.

The law also created the “General Assembly” from two chambers, the Legislative Council appointed by the Governor General of New Zealand and the directly elected House of Representatives . The division into the new provinces came into force on January 17, 1853, and the provincial boundaries were published on February 28. The election mode for the new provincial councils was published on March 5th.

Elections to the provincial council, held every four years, were made by men aged 21 and over with assets equivalent to an annual income of at least £ 50 a year. The New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857 provided for the appointment of a deputy superintendent.

The Constitution Act allowed the creation of additional provinces. After European settlement expanded beyond the boundaries of the original provinces, the General Assembly passed the New Provinces Act 1858 .

This law allowed each district with an area of ​​2,000 and 12,000 km² with a European population of at least 1,000 settlers to establish their own province. This required the approval of 60% of the voters. As a result, the province of Hawke's Bay separated on November 1, 1858 from Wellington, Marlborough on November 1, 1859 from Nelson and Southland on April 1, 1861 from Otago. New Plymouth Province changed its name to "Taranaki" due to the same law.

Stewart Island / Rakiura, which had not belonged to any of the provinces since 1853, was added to the Southland province on November 10, 1863.

The provincial councils elected the superintendent by majority vote from an electoral list. If the elected person was a member of the provincial council, the vacancy was filled by a by-election.

province Date of formation made up from Date of dissolution reason
Auckland January 17, 1853 New Ulster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
New Plymouth / Taranaki (renamed January 1, 1859) January 17, 1853 New Ulster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Hawke's Bay November 1, 1858 Wellington November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Wellington January 17, 1853 New Ulster et al. New Munster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Nelson January 17, 1853 New Munster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Marlborough November 1, 1859 Nelson November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Westland December 1, 1873 Canterbury November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Canterbury January 17, 1853 New Munster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Otago January 17, 1853 New Munster November 1, 1876 Abolition of the provinces
Southland March 25, 1861 Otago October 5, 1870 Reunification with Otago

Soon after their formation, the provinces became the subject of ongoing political strife. In the House , two groups were formed: the "Central ists" in favor of a strong central government, the "Provincial ists" strong regional governments. The centralists assumed that the provinces were acting in self-interest and prone to short-sighted, populist decisions. Three of the provinces had railways built in different gauges: Canterbury Provincial Railways in broad gauge , Southland in standard gauge . The Public Works Act 1870 standardized the gauge and Otago's first rail line, the Port Chalmers Branch , was built in a third "standard" narrow gauge . The Colonial Treasurer and later Prime Minister Julius Vogel launched a large-scale project on immigration and public buildings in the 1870s. Loans of £ 10 million allowed a significant improvement in infrastructure in the form of roads, railways and communications links, all of which were administered by the central government. This reduced the influence of the provinces considerably. They were abolished by the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876 with effect from January 1, 1877 during the tenure of Prime Minister Harry Atkinson .

After the provinces were abolished, local government was transferred to the elected brough and county councils. The The Counties Bill of 1876 created from the provinces 63 new counties. The former provincial borders continued to serve as administrative borders under the Education Act of 1877 and other government agencies such as the Department of Lands and Survey . In 1989 the counties were replaced by larger districts.

Modern use

Provincial Anniversary Days continue to be held in most of New Zealand's former provinces . The historical provinces have a different extent than the current regions of the same name, so today's Manawatu-Wanganui region is largely in the former Wellington province. Some of the province names are also reflected in the regional breakdown of the health system.

literature

  • McIntyre, Gardner (Ed.): Speeches and Documents on New Zealand History. Oxford University Press 1971

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dench : Essential Dates . A Timeline of New Zealand History . 2005, p.  59 .
  2. ↑ Dench : Essential Dates . A Timeline of New Zealand History . 2005, p.  71 .
  3. ^ Government Gazette . Volume 3 Issue 187 . The New Zealander , Auckland March 15, 1848 ( online [accessed November 6, 2016]).
  4. ^ John Wilson: Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings . Canterbury Regional Council, Christchurch 1991, ISBN 1-86937-135-6 (Retrieved April 5, 2010).
  5. ↑ a b c New Zealand's Nine Provinces (1853–76) (PDF; 22 kB) Friends of the Hocken Collections. March 21, 2000. Retrieved October 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b A Bill to provide for the Establishment of new Provinces in New Zealand . In: Hawke's Bay Herald , Volume 1, Issue 49, August 28, 1858, p. 2. Retrieved July 10, 2010. 
  7. ^ "About the South," Lloyd Esler, p. 9, Southland Times, Nov. 4, 2010
  8. ↑ New Zealand Provinces 1848-77