title: Election programmes in New Zealand politics: 1911-1996

authors: Gibbons, Matthew

abstract: This thesis examines the policies New Zealand political parties have emphasised in their key policy statements, the ideological dimensions of party competition, how the political agenda has changed over time, and whether parties have acted in ways compatible with responsible party government and pluralist theories of democracy. These central political debates are studied using all the election programmes issued by the main New Zealand political parties between 1911 and 1996.

Content analysis results for the 1911-1996 period reveal enduring differences between left and right-wing parties on economic, foreign policy and some conservative themes. While some ‘new politics’ issues such as the environment and culture have become much more important over time, the data confirms that other new politics issues such as freedom and democracy have been on New Zealand’s political agenda for most of the twentieth century. 

When charted on a left-right dimension, parties’ positions were largely as expected. The main left and right-wing parties have only crossed over once, and then only fractionally on the economic policy dimension. Contrary to theoretical expectations right-wing parties have often taken very moderate positions on the new politics-old politics dimension, although left-wing parties have usually been more supportive of new politics policies than right-wing parties. Differences between Labour and the main right-wing parties have usually been larger on economic than on new politics issues. However, between 1972 and 1990 differences between Labour and National on new politics issues were much larger than on economic themes.

In their programmes parties have usually campaigned in a manner encouraging rational voting, and have taken relatively similar positions on potentially divisive ethnic policy issues. There is one obvious case of agenda setting: the main parties have kept the most morally contentious issues out of party politics. The enduring policy differences between the main parties will have made it easier for less well informed voters to vote in a rational manner. Party movement results indicate that only during the 1980s were National’s and Labour’s manifestos a poor guide to their subsequent policy direction. 

Policy implementation results for New Zealand using Klingemann, Hofferbert and Budge’s methodology showed high implementation rates by international standards over the 1946-1994 period. Often the manifestos of opposition parties were positively associated with government expenditure trends. This shows that parties’ commitment to mandate theory has been qualified by their support for pluralist norms of interest group consultation. The results indicated that between the early 1980s and 1994 the relationship between manifesto emphases and government expenditure for transfers and health has deteriorated. In other areas policy implementation rates remained high, indicating that politicians often still behaved in ways compatible with the principles of responsible party government. The regression equations Klingemann, Hofferbert and Budge use to calculate policy implementation were also reformulated to produce better and theoretically stronger results.

text: Election programmes in New Zealand politics: 1911-1996 This thesis examines the policies New Zealand political parties have emphasised in their key policy statements, the ideological dimensions of party competition, how the political agenda has changed over time, and whether parties have acted in ways compatible with responsible party government and pluralist theories of democracy. These central political debates are studied using all the election programmes issued by the main New Zealand political parties between 1911 and 1996.

Content analysis results for the 1911-1996 period reveal enduring differences between left and right-wing parties on economic, foreign policy and some conservative themes. While some ‘new politics’ issues such as the environment and culture have become much more important over time, the data confirms that other new politics issues such as freedom and democracy have been on New Zealand’s political agenda for most of the twentieth century. 

When charted on a left-right dimension, parties’ positions were largely as expected. The main left and right-wing parties have only crossed over once, and then only fractionally on the economic policy dimension. Contrary to theoretical expectations right-wing parties have often taken very moderate positions on the new politics-old politics dimension, although left-wing parties have usually been more supportive of new politics policies than right-wing parties. Differences between Labour and the main right-wing parties have usually been larger on economic than on new politics issues. However, between 1972 and 1990 differences between Labour and National on new politics issues were much larger than on economic themes.

In their programmes parties have usually campaigned in a manner encouraging rational voting, and have taken relatively similar positions on potentially divisive ethnic policy issues. There is one obvious case of agenda setting: the main parties have kept the most morally contentious issues out of party politics. The enduring policy differences between the main parties will have made it easier for less well informed voters to vote in a rational manner. Party movement results indicate that only during the 1980s were National’s and Labour’s manifestos a poor guide to their subsequent policy direction. 

Policy implementation results for New Zealand using Klingemann, Hofferbert and Budge’s methodology showed high implementation rates by international standards over the 1946-1994 period. Often the manifestos of opposition parties were positively associated with government expenditure trends. This shows that parties’ commitment to mandate theory has been qualified by their support for pluralist norms of interest group consultation. The results indicated that between the early 1980s and 1994 the relationship between manifesto emphases and government expenditure for transfers and health has deteriorated. In other areas policy implementation rates remained high, indicating that politicians often still behaved in ways compatible with the principles of responsible party government. The regression equations Klingemann, Hofferbert and Budge use to calculate policy implementation were also reformulated to produce better and theoretically stronger results.

year: 2000

title: An Integrated Alerting Service for Open Digital Libraries: Design and Implementation

authors: Hinze, Annika

subjects: computer science

abstract: Alerting services can provide a valuable support for information seeking in Digital Libraries (DL). Several systems have been proposed. Most of them have serious drawbacks, such as limited expressiveness, limited coverage, and poor support of federated and distributed collections. 
In this paper, we present the detailed design and implementation for a comprehensive alerting service for digital libraries. We demonstrate typical user interactions with the system. Our alerting service is open to other event sources, supports a rich variety of event types, and works on distributed as well as on federated DL collections.

text: An Integrated Alerting Service for Open Digital Libraries: Design and Implementation Alerting services can provide a valuable support for information seeking in Digital Libraries (DL). Several systems have been proposed. Most of them have serious drawbacks, such as limited expressiveness, limited coverage, and poor support of federated and distributed collections. 
In this paper, we present the detailed design and implementation for a comprehensive alerting service for digital libraries. We demonstrate typical user interactions with the system. Our alerting service is open to other event sources, supports a rich variety of event types, and works on distributed as well as on federated DL collections.

year: 2005

title: The Application of the "Best Interests" Principle to Maori Children's Collective Cultural Rights: A Conceptual Shift for the New Zealand Family Court?

authors: Macbeth, Steven Alexander

subjects: "collective cultural rights"

abstract: Indigenous Peoples assert their collective rights in a world where Western liberal theory and individual rights dominate. International human rights law, however, increasingly recognises Indigenous Peoples collective rights in addition to their members’ individual rights. In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which represents the most comprehensive acknowledgement of Indigenous Peoples collective rights within international law. In 2009 the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 11 “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”. The Comment references the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as providing important guidance on the rights of indigenous children. The Comment provides authoritative guidance to State Parties that the application of the “best interests” principle to indigenous children under the Convention requires the assessment of indigenous children’s collective cultural rights and their need to exercise such rights collectively with members of their group, in addition to the indigenous children’s individual rights. Only then can the best interests of indigenous children be determined. 
As a State Party, New Zealand is obliged to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child through legislation, judicial determinations and administrative processes. The best interests principle is already the paramount consideration and touchstone for judicial decision-making under the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 and Care of Children Act 2004. The Family Court of New Zealand (while making some inroads in the 1980s and 90s) has yet, however, to develop a coherent and robust approach to the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights when applying the best interests principle as it is obliged to do. General Comment No. 11 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples assist by providing authoritative guidance. They augment New Zealand’s family legislation, common law and social policy, which already acknowledge cultural rights and the collective nature of Maori familial relationships.
This paper looks beyond children’s individual rights and the universal application of such rights. It considers the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights in addition to their individual rights under the best interests principle. Further, it analyses the relevant international and domestic authority the Family Court of New Zealand must consider when applying the best interests principle to Maori children, and the practical realities the recognition of Maori children’s collective cultural rights present. A conceptual shift by the Family Court and counsel is required. This paper urges the Family Court to develop the application of the best interests principle under the Care of Children Act 2004 and the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 to include the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights in addition to their individual rights. In so doing the common law will reflect New Zealand’s unique history and circumstances, and comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If it fails to do so, the Family Court risks being the subject of criticism for breaching the Convention, being out of sync with international human rights law, domestic legislation and social policy, and increasingly losing relevancy.

text: The Application of the "Best Interests" Principle to Maori Children's Collective Cultural Rights: A Conceptual Shift for the New Zealand Family Court? Indigenous Peoples assert their collective rights in a world where Western liberal theory and individual rights dominate. International human rights law, however, increasingly recognises Indigenous Peoples collective rights in addition to their members’ individual rights. In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which represents the most comprehensive acknowledgement of Indigenous Peoples collective rights within international law. In 2009 the Committee on the Rights of the Child issued under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. 11 “Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention”. The Comment references the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as providing important guidance on the rights of indigenous children. The Comment provides authoritative guidance to State Parties that the application of the “best interests” principle to indigenous children under the Convention requires the assessment of indigenous children’s collective cultural rights and their need to exercise such rights collectively with members of their group, in addition to the indigenous children’s individual rights. Only then can the best interests of indigenous children be determined. 
As a State Party, New Zealand is obliged to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child through legislation, judicial determinations and administrative processes. The best interests principle is already the paramount consideration and touchstone for judicial decision-making under the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989 and Care of Children Act 2004. The Family Court of New Zealand (while making some inroads in the 1980s and 90s) has yet, however, to develop a coherent and robust approach to the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights when applying the best interests principle as it is obliged to do. General Comment No. 11 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples assist by providing authoritative guidance. They augment New Zealand’s family legislation, common law and social policy, which already acknowledge cultural rights and the collective nature of Maori familial relationships.
This paper looks beyond children’s individual rights and the universal application of such rights. It considers the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights in addition to their individual rights under the best interests principle. Further, it analyses the relevant international and domestic authority the Family Court of New Zealand must consider when applying the best interests principle to Maori children, and the practical realities the recognition of Maori children’s collective cultural rights present. A conceptual shift by the Family Court and counsel is required. This paper urges the Family Court to develop the application of the best interests principle under the Care of Children Act 2004 and the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989 to include the assessment of Maori children’s collective cultural rights in addition to their individual rights. In so doing the common law will reflect New Zealand’s unique history and circumstances, and comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If it fails to do so, the Family Court risks being the subject of criticism for breaching the Convention, being out of sync with international human rights law, domestic legislation and social policy, and increasingly losing relevancy.

year: 2015