The government in Aotearoa was something I had heard of, as it is famous for its efficiency and transparency. I was excited to meet some officials, whom of which gave me the necessary information to gain a better understanding of the government system.
Aotearoa’s government system is a Parliament. The members of parliament are voted by the public. People vote for the parties, and the party that ends up with a majority of the votes elects a party leader to be the Prime minister. The other party has to oppose the major party, but as the prime minister publicly represents the winning party, opposition proves difficult. Unlike some other parliamentary governing systems, there is no Head of State. The Head of State is a person who holds ceremonial power, a role the government deemed unnecessary, and gave the responsibilities of the Head of State to the prime minister. There are three major parties in the Aotearoan government. These three are the conservatives, greens and the democratic. The democrats and the greens usually end up with the most votes, with the votes being fairly even. The Greens focus on environmental preservation and environmental/scientific development. The Democratic Party focuses more on social wellbeing and development. These values are heavily associated with Aotearoa, therefore these parties are voted for over the conservatives. The conservatives believe in keeping everything the way it is, and increasing the country's military. Noteworthy Prime Ministers: Sir William Gregory: Formed Aotearoa. He, with the help of the Maori leadership, made a mutually benefited constitution that would make a fair and developed country. His intentions were to form a country that would fairly represent all people, and give the population a real say in what happened in the government. Maro Petera: The first Maori Prime minister, introducing laws granting protection to more sacred locations. During this time, British and Maori relations grew even stronger, and Maro was only the first Maori prime minister of many. Walder Josey: Gained Aotearoa its independence. He also decided that the government had to be fully transparent with the society, producing updates of the interworking of the government and constantly wanting public opinion on new policies. He determined this because it would result in a government that would better run the country as the country wanted to be run. George Quinn: Became Prime minister during a massive debate about the future of some of the larger forest on the South Island. He determined the basis of the ecosystem preservation laws that are covered in the judicial and social pages. Valerie Smith: First female prime minister, produced more gender fair laws further eliminating gender discrimination. Rick Sanchez: Introduced more gender and sexuality acceptance laws, ruling that no person should insult or otherwise harm another person based on their sexuality or gender. The laws even prevented this on a religious bases, even though the country has very high religious tolerance. He determined that the point of believing in a higher power wasn’t hate, it was hope. These laws introduced gender neutral bathrooms as well. Military The Military has fluctuated in importance throughout the history of Aotearoa. Perhaps the times the military has been the most important was the british-maori force that took over the south Island, and the EGAC forces that prevented the Skoaji takeover of Egania. After the British-Maori forced the Dutch to flee, there wasn’t much need of a ready army. In 1912, for fear of global war, Egania and Aotearoa signed a treaty to make the combined forces known as EGAC. These forces fought in both world wars. In world war one, 50 000 troops were supplied by Aotearoa. In the second war, 75 000 troops were sent to aid the Egania forces. As with all things in Aotearoa, military enlistment is not limited to any one gender, race or sexuality. This applies to both frontline work and communications and defense. Military enlistment in not mandatory, and the enlisting age begins at 18. No person will be denied volunteering service. Initial service is 2 years, and after that every 5 years they are required to return for a month of service. In the modern era, the army is strictly for defense wise, and there are less than 20, 000 active members of service. |