New Zealand 2001
Yearbook 2001
New Zealand. Extensive cuts in defense were announced in the spring. The Labor government said it intended to sell all the air force’s combat and exercise plan and reduce its funding for the Navy while providing the Army with new equipment to play a greater role in peacekeeping operations. Prime Minister Clark justified the decision with a lack of money and that the country did not face any apparent security policy threat. The decision drew criticism from Australia, with New Zealand’s defense cooperation, the United States and the Conservative opposition.
In September, the state took over Air New Zealand to save it from a looming bankruptcy. The airline had been privatized twelve years earlier.
- Abbreviationfinder: lists typical abbreviations and country overview of New Zealand, including bordering countries, geography, history, politics, and economics.
In September, New Zealand received 150 boat refugees who were refused to land in Australia. However, these would be included in the 750 quota refugees the country had promised to receive in 2001-02. Prime Minister Clark later called on the UN to address the issue in order to find an international solution to the problems.
Opposition leader Jenny Shipley resigned in October and was replaced by former Finance Minister Bill English.
During an official visit to China in April 2014, the colorful prime minister sparked scandal when he declared that New Zeland would back up if the US and Australia attacked North Korea militarily. Opinions he had to withdraw the following day. New Zealand has been supplying soldiers for almost all of the United States wars since World War II.
At the November 2014 election, Key’s Conservative Party retained its backing – stepped back a bit but won a more mandate. The big loser was the Labor Party, which went 2 terms back to 32. It was the 4th election with decline for the party. Parliament’s 3rd largest party, the Greens, retained its 14 seats. The big winner of the election was the second Conservative party NZ First, which ran for 4 terms until 11. After the election, Key continued as prime minister of his Conservative government.
November
Asian countries form record trade cooperation
November 15
15 countries in Asia and the Pacific region sign the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) trade agreement. The members are some of the world’s largest economies: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, as well as ten Southeast Asian countries, and together they account for almost a third of the world’s total GDP. The cooperation needs to be ratified by nine countries, of which six are ASEAN members, in order to enter into force. India participated for a long time in the negotiations, but chose to withdraw in 2019 due to concerns about the consequences for domestic production. The United States stands outside the RCEP, which has been seen as a Chinese response to the major US trade initiative TPP, which when Washington withdrew from 2017 was renamed the CPTPP.
October
Earthquake victory for the Ardern
October 17
49 percent of voters vote for Labor in the parliamentary elections. It is the first time in over half a century that a party has received such strong support from voters. With 64 seats in parliament, the party has its own majority, which is enough for it to now be able to govern alone, unlike during the previous term. The Nationalist Party gets 35 seats while the ACT New Zealand and the Green Party both land on 10 seats. New Zealand leaves Parliament first.
Population 2001
According to Countryaah, the population of New Zealand in 2001 was 4,135,244, ranking number 124 in the world. The population growth rate was 1.390% yearly, and the population density was 15.7053 people per km2.
