New Zealand

New Zealand is a country on a group of islands southeast of Australia with a population of four million and a capital city of Wellington. It has soldiers in Afghanistan and has used its soldiers in the past decade in various Pacific islands such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * New Zealand's broadcasters enjoy one of the world's most liberal media arenas. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1988, when the government allowed competition to the state broadcaster, Television New Zealand.

U.S. nuclear warships banned
In 1984, the United States and Britain terminated military cooperation with New Zealand because of New Zealand's demand that any warships visiting the country say whether nuclear weapons are on board.

U.S. nuclear warships are now banned from visiting the country because of New Zealand's 1987 ban on nuclear weapons. The ban has been popular with the populace but trade with the U.S. has suffered.

In 2007, Trade and Disarmament Minister Phil Goff said that he wanted all of the southern hemisphere to be a nuclear-free zone within 20 years. Greens co-leader Russel Norman said that New Zealand should withdraw money invested in companies such as Northrop Grumman Corporation and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) because of their manufacture of nuclear weapons.

Both the U.S. and Australia are pushing for nuclear power plants to help combat global warming but New Zealand is opposing this and saying the emphasis should be on reducing greenhouse gases.

Leaders

 * John Key, Prime Minister, National Party, a centre-right party succeeding the three term, nine year administration of Helen Clark in 2008. Clark is now the head of the United Nations Development Program.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Direct-to-consumer advertising in New Zealand
 * Exclusive Brethren/New Zealand election, 2005
 * Gavin Anderson & Company (Australia and New Zealand)
 * Greenwashing/New Zealand
 * Intimidating democracy/New Zealand Health Ministry memo to NGOs
 * Ministry of Fisheries (New Zealand)
 * New Zealand Climate Science Coalition
 * New Zealand Hoki Fishery
 * New Zealand National Party
 * Secrets and Lies: How Shandwick PR Tried to Destroy the Rainforests of New Zealand
 * The Marketing of Gardasil in New Zealand
 * WWF New Zealand

External articles

 * Andre Vltchek, "The New Pacific Wall: The U.S., Australia, and New Zealand Control the Pacific Islands", JapanFocus.org/Worldpress.org, October 31, 2006.

External resources

 * Timeline: New Zealand, BBC, accessed January 2008.