New Zealand has no written constitution, although fundamental freedoms are respected in practice. The judiciary is independent. The private press is varied and vigorous. The broadcast media are both privately and publicly held and express pluralistic views. Civil society is advanced and nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, and religious groups are outspoken.
Religious freedom is respected.
Contracts are now generally drawn up at the factory or even individual level, and wages and union membership rolls have fallen. In 1994, the ILO criticized a provision of the ECA prohibiting strikes designed to force an employer to sign on to a multicompany contract. The Maori minority and the tiny Pacific Islander population face unofficial discrimination in employment and education opportunities. The 1983 Equal Employment Opportunities Policy, designed to bring more minorities into the public sector, has been only marginally successful. An agreement reached in the nineteenth century and codified in 1955 leases Maori land in perpetuity to the settlers.