Department Of Internal Affairs (New Zealand)
The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (in Māori Te Tari Taiwhenua) is a state sector organisation whose roles include the issue of passports; administering citizenship grant applications, and lottery grant applications; enforcement of censorship and gambling law; registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil unions; providing policy advice on a range of issues; and supplying support services to Ministers of the Crown.
Other services provided by the department include a translation service, publication of the New Zealand Gazette (the official newspaper of the Government of New Zealand), a flag hire service, management of VIP visits to New Zealand, running the Lake Taupo harbourmaster's office (under a special agreement with the local iwi) and the administration of offshore islands.
The Minister of Internal Affairs is the Hon. Chris Tremain and Peter Mersi is the Acting Secretary of Internal Affairs. However, in total there are seven Ministers with responsibilities administered by the Department.
On 25 March 2010 the Minister of State Services announced that Archives New Zealand and the National Library of New Zealand would be merged into the Department. Library and Archives stakeholders have expressed serious concerns about the changes proposed. During the late 1990s both the Library and Archives were separated from the Department along with Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Read more about Department Of Internal Affairs (New Zealand): History, Related Organisations
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