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New Zealand >
About NZ
People
The Four million New Zealanders are a friendly
people made up of predominantly of European stock
and native Maori, there are immigrants from
all over the world with larger numbers from South
East Asia and the Pacific Islands. The population is
swelled by the numbers of mostly Asian international
students who attend all classes from junior school
to a university degree. Another
one million live and work outside the country and New Zealand hosts nine
million visitors per year.
Geography
Set in the remote South Pacific Ocean, New
Zealand has a range of contrasts including temperate
rain forests, high mountains which rise from the sea
with year round snowfields and retreating glaciers.
Broad plains with intensive agriculture, sediment
strata rich in fossils, active volcanoes and arid
regions.
Climate
The roaring 40's latitude where the prevailing
winds come from the Antarctic south, the heaviest
rains are in the temperate south west (3-4 meters a
year in Fiordland ), whereas the east is dryer.
more
Economy
New Zealand is an agricultural country and
exports a wide variety of primary produce, foods
prepared for oven or grill, fine cheeses, wines and
condiments. Tourism is important as is the
growing I.T. sector. There is a range of light and
heavy industry producing goods from jet boat motors
to luxury yachts.
The base wage payable to an adult worker is about
NZ$7.00 per hour with weekly wages from $200.00,
but it is an income of plus NZ$1000.00 a week per
for an individual to have a modest comfortable
lifestyle. Top executives salaries range up to a
million NZ$ pa.
Energy
Population increase and industry expansion have
rendered the once excellent hydro system inadequate.
The possibility of power shortages over summer /
winter are very real and occur when rainfall is low
in the catchment areas. There is some coal/oil/gas
generation and wind power is in it's infancy. The
only self sufficient systems are in areas where the
cost of installing mains power is greater, and solar
hot water systems are becoming more popular.
Home heating in cities is mostly electric with gas
and wood burners being phased out.
Politics
 Currently there is a democratic, elected, Labour
led government under the mixed member
proportional representation system. Central
Government is housed in the beehive shaped building
in Wellington.
Government Links
New
Zealanders have been politically active in
preventing nuclear powered ships from entering NZ
waters, being instrumental in bringing change to
South Africa through public protest.
Although
over 70% of people are opposed to the introduction
of the open use of genetically engineered organisms,
the government has passed legislation to allow it,
and within days the first application was placed for
open release. Although there are rules and
regulations are in place, it is all untested theory
which we hope and pray will not have any harmful
consequences for us.
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