The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) was established by the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946, which has since been replaced by the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008. Although an independent institution, it is responsible to the Minister for Land Information. The board has authority over geographical and hydrographic names within

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and its territorial waters. This includes the naming of small urban settlements, localities, mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, harbours and natural features and may include researching local Māori names. It has named many geographical features in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

region of Antarctica. It has no authority to alter street names (a local body responsibility) or the name of any country. The NZGB secretariat is part of Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and provides the board with administrative and research assistance and advice. The New Zealand Geographic Board succeeded an honorary Geographical Advisory Board that had been set up in 1924 under the direction of the Minister of Land. That board had seven members, including Herbert Williams,

Elsdon Best Elsdon Best (30 June 1856 – 9 September 1931) was an ethnographer who made important contributions to the study of the Māori of New Zealand. Early years Elsdon Best was born 30 June 1856 at Tawa Flat, New Zealand, to William Best and the for ...

and Johannes C. Andersen.

Membership

Under the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008, the Board comprises the Surveyor-General of New Zealand (appointed by LINZ) as Chair, the National Hydrographer (appointed by LINZ) and eight other members nominated by the Minister for Land Information. The ministerial appointees include two persons recommended by the Minister of Māori Development and representatives of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, the

New Zealand Geographical Society New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, the

Federated Mountain Clubs of NZ The Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand (Inc) (commonly referred to by its acronym, FMC), is a New Zealand environment and conservation NGO. It is the only national association of over 110 tramping, mountain climbing clubs and schools. Member ...

, and

Local Government New Zealand Local Government New Zealand Te Kahui Kaunihera ō Aotearoa (LGNZ) is the local government association of New Zealand. It represents the interests of the regional, city, and district councils in New Zealand. History The Association was form ...

. , the ten board members are: # Anselm Haanen (Surveyor-General, Chairperson) # Shaun Barnett (nominated by Federated Mountain Clubs) # Jenni Vernon (nominated by the Minister for Land Information # Gary Shane Te Ruki (nominated by the Minister for Māori Development) # Robin Kearns (nominated by the New Zealand Geographical Society Inc) # Chanel Clarke (nominated by the Minister for Māori Development) # Adam Greenland (National Hydrographer at LINZ) # Professor Merata Kawharu (nominated by the Minister for Land Information) # Bonita Bigham (nominated by Local Government New Zealand) # Paulette Tamati-Elliffe (nominated by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu)

Notable actions

2013 formalisation of island names

The NZGB discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised, and names and alternative names were formalised in 2013. This set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu. For each island, either its English or Māori name can be used, or both can be used together.

2016 renaming of landmarks

In 2015, a member of the New Zealand public wrote to the New Zealand Geographic Board complaining about three place names in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in the South Island that use the word "

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

": Nigger Hill, Niggerhead, and Nigger Stream. A public consultation was set up with 223 to 61 responses in favour of changing the name. Following consultations with the

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

tribe who reside in the area, the names Kānuka Hills and Tawhai Hill were suggested as replacements. This was in reference to the ''

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of '' Leptospermum'' and from it ...

'' and tawhai tree. The stream was somewhat more complicated; it was originally proposed to be renamed to "Steelhead Stream", but eventually the Māori name for the ''

Carex secta ''Carex secta'' is a sedge endemic to New Zealand. The Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zeal ...

'' (a

tussock grass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

that grows in the area),

Pūkio Stream Pūkio Stream, formerly Nigger Stream until 2016, is a river in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. It flows from The Candlesticks range of the Southern Alps to the Esk River. The underfit stream cuts through terraces of glacial outw ...

, was favored instead. The proposed change of name was accepted with the

Land Information New Zealand Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with geographical information and surveying functions as well as handling land titles, and managing Crown land and property. The minist ...

Minister

Louise Upston Louise Claire Upston (née McGill, born 14 March 1971) is a New Zealand politician of the National Party. She has represented the Taupō electorate in the House of Representatives since the . In the Fifth National Government, led by Prime Mini ...

stating "These names reflect a time when attitudes towards this word were markedly different to what they are now. It is a word that is clearly offensive to most people today, so I am pleased to make this decision." The name change was made official on 15 December 2016 after being published in the

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' ( mi, Te Kāhiti o Aotearoa), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record (Government gazette) of the New Zealand Government. Published since 1840, it is the longest-running publication i ...

Powers

Under Section 32 of the 2008 Act, official place names must be used in all official documents, a term which includes both documents produced by government entities and some documents produced by non-government entities, such as scientific publications and information for tourists. Section 33 of the Act enables enforcement of the requirement by granting the New Zealand Geographic Board the right to seek an injunction from the high court with heavy penalties for non-compliance, but as of 2018 this power has not been used, with the Board instead preferring to liaise directly with offenders to correct non-compliance. These powers have proven ineffective in some cases, such as with overseas open source services such as Google Maps.

References

{{Reflist Geographical naming disputes Government of New Zealand 1946 in New Zealand law 1946 establishments in New Zealand Names of places in New Zealand Geographical naming agencies