page_title: Independence of New Zealand
section_title: Statute of Westminster and Realm (1930s–1970s)
hierarchical_section_title: Independence of New Zealand / History / Statute of Westminster and Realm (1930s–1970s)
context_page_description: The independence of New Zealand is a matter of continued academic and social debate. New Zealand has no fixed date of independence; instead, political independence came about as a result of New Zealand's evolving constitutional status. The concept of a national "Independence Day" does not exist in New Zealand.
  In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a British colony. In 1853, only 12 years after the founding of the colony, the British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 to grant the colony's settlers the right to self-governance. New Zealand was, therefore, to all intents and purposes independent in domestic matters from its earliest days as a British colony.
  The first major step towards nationhood on the international stage came in 1919 when New Zealand was given a seat in the newly founded League of Nations.
context_section_description: At the outset of the Second World War, then Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage, who had been critical of the British policy of appeasement, famously declared: 
  "...for almost a century, behind the sure shield of Britain, we have enjoyed and cherished freedom and self-government. Both with gratitude for the past and with confidence in the future, we range ourselves without fear beside Britain. Where she goes, we go, where she stands, we stand. We are only a young nation, but we are one and all a band of brothers, and we march forward with a union of hearts and wills to a common destiny."
  Savage's successor, Peter Fraser, did not withdraw New Zealand troops from the Middle East in 1942 (unlike Australia), based on an assessment of New Zealand interests.
  In the 1944 Speech from the Throne the Governor-General announced the Fraser Government's intention to adopt the Statute of Westminster. However, there was a strong outcry by the opposition that this would weaken the British Empire in a time of need. In 1946, Fraser instructed Government departments not to use the term "Dominion" any longer. Ironically, the failure of a private members bill to abolish the upper house by future Prime Minister Sidney Holland led to the adoption of the Statute of Westminster on 25 November 1947 with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947. This Act allowed passing of the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947, which granted the New Zealand Parliament full legislative powers, extra-territorial control of the New Zealand military forces and legally separated the New Zealand Crown from the British Crown. Thus, although the monarch of the United Kingdom remains also the monarch of New Zealand this person acts in a distinct capacity as sovereign of each.
  In 1948, the New Zealand Parliament passed the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948, altering the New Zealand nationality law. From 1 January 1949 all New Zealanders became New Zealand citizens. However, New Zealanders remained British subjects under New Zealand nationality law. Prior to this Act, migrants to New Zealand were classed as either "British" (mainly from the United Kingdom itself, but also other Commonwealth countries such as Australia, South Africa and India) or "Non-British".
  At a meeting of Commonwealth prime ministers in 1952 following the death of King George VI, it was agreed that the new Queen Elizabeth could have a royal style and title that was different in each dominion, but with an element common to all the dominions. New Zealand was thus an independent Commonwealth realm. In 1953 the New Zealand Parliament passed the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953, which formally recognised Queen Elizabeth II as the Queen of the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
  In 1967, the first New Zealand-born Governor-General was appointed to the office, Lord Poritt (although Bernard Freyberg had previously been appointed in 1946; Freyberg had been born in the United Kingdom, but had lived in New Zealand from a young age). Porritt had also been resident in the United Kingdom for most of his life. The result was a greater focus on new overseas markets for New Zealand goods, mainly in the Asia-Pacific regions.
caption: An old New Zealand passport, 1949, bearing the title "British Passport" with "Dominion of New Zealand" underneath.
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