History
Universal suffrage for Māori men over 21 was granted in 1867, and extended to European males in 1879. In 1893, New Zealand was the first self-governing nation to grant universal suffrage; however, women were not eligible to stand for parliament until 1919.
A distinctive feature of New Zealand's electoral system is a form of special representation for Maori in parliament. Initially considered a temporary solution on its creation in 1867, this separate system has survived debate as to its appropriateness and effectiveness. Critics have described special representation as a form of apartheid. In 1992, when the Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommended the abolishment of the separate system, strong representations from Maori organisations resulted in its survival.
Human rights in New Zealand are addressed in the constitution. In addition, New Zealand has also ratified numerous international treaties as part of the United Nations. The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted that the government generally respected the rights of individuals, but voiced concerns regarding the social status of the Indigenous population.
In May 2009, for the first time New Zealand prepared a national Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. During this peer review process many countries praised New Zealand's human rights record and identified that the perception of New Zealand as a comparatively fair and equal society is crucial to its international reputation. Areas where the nation was directed to make improvements include disparities experienced by Maori as demonstrated by key social and economic indicators and the extent of family violence and violence against women and children.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In New Zealand
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“In history an additional result is commonly produced by human actions beyond that which they aim at and obtain—that which they immediately recognize and desire. They gratify their own interest; but something further is thereby accomplished, latent in the actions in question, though not present to their consciousness, and not included in their design.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“The foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe? Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)