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Coalition For Open Government
The Coalition for Open Government was a political pressure group formed in the late 1970s to promote open government in New Zealand. The Coalition disbanded in the-mid 1980s but re-formed in April 2007, in response to Government plans to rewrite the election finance laws. History The group was formed in September 1979 in opposition to the then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's Think Big programme. It had concerns around the speed, secrecy and lack of public consultation of related legislation (particularly the National Development Act 1979). The opposition to the act and the group itself was led by Sir Guy Powles, the former Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand. It sought to allow greater access to government-held information. The pressure it exerted was important in the adoption of the Official Information Act 1982. Patrons The group's patrons are Lloyd Geering, Patricia Grace, Anton Oliver Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not the head of state, but rather the head of government, serving under either a monarch in a democratic constitutional monarchy or under a president in a republican form of government. In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head/owner of the executive power. In such systems, the head of state or their official representative (e.g., monarch, president, governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers. Under some presidential systems, such as South Korea and Peru, the prime minister is the leader or most senior member of the cabinet, not the head of government. In many systems, the prime minister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in the army in the Second World War, Muldoon completed his training as an accountant and returned to New Zealand as its first fully qualified cost accountant. He was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 1960 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamaki, representing the National Party. In this time of political stability, Muldoon served successively as Minister of Tourism (1967), Minister of Finance (1967–1972), and Deputy Prime Minister (1972). Over this time he built up an informal but solid backing amongst National's mostly rural right faction, which he labelled "Rob's Mob"—possibly in imitation of gangs such as the Mongrel Mob. National were then expelled from office in 1972, beginning the tenure of La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Think Big
In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, and deliberation. But other mental processes, like considering an idea, memory, or imagination, are also often included. These processes can happen internally independent of the sensory organs, unlike perception. But when understood in the widest sense, any mental event may be understood as a form of thinking, including perception and unconscious mental processes. In a slightly different sense, the term ''thought'' refers not to the mental processes themselves but to mental states or systems of ideas brought about by these processes. Various theories of thinking have been proposed, some of which aim to capture the characteristic features of thought. ''Platonists'' hold that thinking consists in discerning and inspecting Platonic forms and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Development Act 1979
The National Development Act 1979 was an Act of Parliament in New Zealand. It was a controversial Act and was repealed by the National Development Act Repeal Act 1986. Background To help speed up the Think Big initiative, the Third National Government of New Zealand passed the National Development Act in December 1979. The act, according to supporters, allowed the government to plan and act decisively and 'cut through red tape' to enable development. However, there was significance resistance to the act with concerns around the speed, secrecy and lack of public consultation. More particularly there was opposition to the lack of environmental safeguards for the utilisation of natural resources. The opposition to the act was led by the Coalition for Open Government which had been formed by Sir Guy Powles, the former Chief Ombudsman of New Zealand. There were 341 public submissions on the act and only 5 endorsed the act with all others being opposed. The Minister for National Dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Powles
Sir Guy Richardson Powles (5 April 1905 – 24 October 1994) was a New Zealand diplomat, the last Governor of Western Samoa and architect of Samoan independence, and New Zealand's first Ombudsman. Early life Powles was born in Otaki, north of Wellington, in 1905. Powles was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel C. Guy Powles, a decorated military soldier who served with distinction during World War I as brigade major of New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade 1914–1916 and AA & QMG ANZAC Mounted Division 1916–1918. In 1922 he wrote the third volume of the ''Official History of New Zealand's Effort in the Great War'', ''The New Zealanders in Sinai and Palestine'', and in 1928 edited ''The history of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles 1914–1919'' by officers of the regiment, and later became Chief of General Staff of the New Zealand Army. Powles earned his LLB from Victoria University of Wellington and practised as a barrister in Wellington from 1929 to 1940. During the war, Powles went on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Office Of The Ombudsman (New Zealand)
The Ombudsman is an officer of the New Zealand Parliament to independently look into complaints. The core jurisdiction of the office is cases of maladministration, but it has been progressively expanded over the years to cover complaints under the Official Information Act 1982 and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, whistleblower complaints under the Protected Disclosures Act 2000, and it is one of New Zealand's national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. Ombudsmen are appointed by the Governor-General of New Zealand on recommendation from the New Zealand House of Representatives for a term of five years. The current Chief Ombudsman is Peter Boshier. History The idea of establishing an ombudsman in New Zealand goes back to early 1961 when the Second National Government circulated a paper proposing to do so, based on the Scandinavian model. The idea was received with skepticism by the public service. In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Official Information Act 1982
The Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) is an Act of the New Zealand Parliament which creates a public right to access information held by government bodies. It is New Zealand's primary freedom of information law and has become an important part of New Zealand's constitutional framework. The guiding principle of the Act is that information should be made available unless there is good reason for withholding it.OIA, section 5. Requests to Government Departments or State agencies for information must be answered "as soon as reasonably practicable", and within 20 working days.OIA, section 15. If an agency declines to provide the information, it must provide a reason and advise the requester that they have the right to ask the Ombudsman to investigate whether or not that decision is justified under the provisions of the Act.OIA, section 19. Approximately 45,000 requests are made under the Act each year, with over 90% of them answered within statutory timeframes. There have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Geering
Sir Lloyd George Geering (born 26 February 1918) is a New Zealand theologian who faced charges of heresy in 1967 for teaching that the Bible's record of Jesus' death and resurrection is not true. He considers Christian and Muslim fundamentalism to be "social evils". Geering is emeritus professor of religious studies at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2007, he was appointed a Member of the Order of New Zealand, New Zealand's highest civilian honour, limited to 20 living people. Geering turned 100 in February 2018. Early life and family Geering was born in Rangiora on 26 February 1918, the son of Alice (''née'' Johnston) and George Frederick Thomas Geering. The family spent four years in Australia from 1927 to 1930, where Geering was dux of Warrnambool Elementary School, before returning to Dunedin. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School between 1931 and 1935, where he was dux in his final year and vice-captain of the hockey 1st XI. In 1936, Geering went on to stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Grace
Patricia Frances Grace (; born 17 August 1937) is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Her early short stories were published in magazines, leading to her becoming the first female Māori writer to publish a collection of short stories, ''Waiariki'', in 1975. Her first novel, ''Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps'', followed in 1978. Since becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, Grace has written seven novels, seven short-story collections, a non-fiction biography and an autobiography. Her works explore Māori life and culture, including the impact of Pākehā (New Zealand European) and other cultures on Māori, with use of the Māori language throughout. Her most well-known novel, ''Potiki'' (1986) features a Māori community opposing the private development of their ancestral land. She has also written a number of children's books, seeking to write books in which Māori children ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anton Oliver
Anton David Oliver (born 9 September 1975) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. Previously, he played as a hooker for Marlborough (one of the predecessors to today's Tasman side) and Otago in the National Provincial Championship and Air New Zealand Cup, and spent twelve seasons with the Highlanders in Super Rugby. He earned 59 caps for his country and for a period was All Blacks captain. Early life Oliver was born 9 September 1975 in Invercargill and spent the early years of his life in several small towns in the deep south of NZ. When he was seven he moved to Blenheim where he went on to be Head Boy of Marlborough Boys' College in 1993. During this time, Anton made all of the possible New Zealand age group rugby teams – Under17, Under19, Under21, and the NZ Secondary Schools Team – captaining them all. He initially played at number 8 for the NZ under 17s. The following year he changed positions to hooker and made his provincial debut for Marlborough against Nelso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electoral Finance Bill (New Zealand)
The Electoral Finance Act 2007 was a controversial act in New Zealand. The Fifth Labour Government introduced the Electoral Finance Bill partly in response to the 2005 New Zealand election funding controversy, in particular to "third-party" campaigns. The proponents of the bill generally held that such a law was required to prevent wealthy private parties from "buying elections" anonymously via advertising campaigns or other financially costly lobbying, while opponents considered it a serious restriction of civil liberties, and further regarded spending private money on political campaigning as a democratic right. Effect The Act amended numerous areas of New Zealand electoral law, but was repealed on 17 February 2009. Principally and most controversially it regulated "third party" election campaigns Third party campaigns The Act made it illegal for anyone to spend more than NZ$12,000 criticising or supporting a political party or taking a position on any political matte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1979 Establishments In New Zealand
Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ''Chiquitita'' to commemorate the event. ** The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations. ** Following a deal agreed during 1978, French carmaker Peugeot completes a takeover of American manufacturer Chrysler's European operations, which are based in Britain's former Rootes Group factories, as well as the former Simca factories in France. * January 7 – Cambodian–Vietnamese War: The People's Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge retreat west to an area along the Thai border, ending large-scale fighting. * January 8 – Whiddy Island Disaster: The Fren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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