Yearbook 2010
 New Zealand In April, the government signed the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The
relatively new declaration regulates human rights and the
right to land and natural resources. New Zealand was one of
the few countries that voted against the declaration when it
was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007. It
was in particular the issue of the right to land that was
controversial as the land in New Zealand is now often owned
by private individuals. The Indigenous people of the Maoris
have already regained some land and in other cases have been
compensated for lost land. Mayor Pita Sharples said the
signing of the declaration is proof that New Zealand
supports the human rights of indigenous peoples. He also
said he was determined to deal with the injustices that
affected the Maoris in terms of land and natural resources.
According to
COUNTRYAAH, New Zealand plans to ban smoking at the country's prisons
from July 1, 2011. This was announced in June 2010. Judith
Collins, Minister for Prison and Probation, two-thirds of
the country's prisoners smoke. Critics say that the violence
in prisons would increase if they refuse interns cigarettes,
but the rejected minister said that smoking is a danger to
both prisoners and staff.
In August, the government proposed tightening the
country's alcohol laws to reduce drinking among young
people. Raising the age limit from 18 to 20 to buy alcohol
was one of the suggestions. Another was to ban the sale of
alcoholic beverages aimed specifically at young people, such
as milk-based drinks. According to Justice Minister Simon
Power, the alcohol causes about a thousand deaths a year in
New Zealand.
The worst earthquake in New Zealand in 80 years hit the
city of Christchurch on the east coast of South Island on
September 4. No man was killed, but the material destruction
was great. About two-thirds of the 160,000 homes in and
around Christchurch, the country's second largest city, were
damaged. The earthquake measured 7.1 on the Richter scale.
Strict building standards are one of the reasons why the
consequences became so minor in view of the strength of the
quake. The following days many relatively strong aftershocks
were registered. As late as December 26, a series of
aftershocks arrived in Christchurch. The strongest measured
4.9 on the Richter scale. Buildings were damaged, a shopping
center had to be evacuated and the power was temporarily
broken, but no one was injured despite the fact that many
were out shopping.
On November 19, 29 miners died in an accident in the Pike
River coal mine on the west coast of South Island. It was
the worst mining accident in the country in almost 70 years.
The accident was caused by a gas explosion. When the rescue
workers went in, another gas explosion occurred. The
government appointed an independent inquiry to investigate
exactly what caused the deaths of the miners. The
investigation would also study the risk of explosions, the
safety of the mines and the mining legislation. In addition,
the police, the Ministry of Labor and the mining company
would conduct their own investigations.
In October, the New Zealand government decided to grant a
state grant of the equivalent of SEK 170 million to the
American film company Warner Bros in order for the filming
of two new "The Legend of the Ring" films to actually take
place in the country. New Zealand, where the "Legend of the
Ring" films have so far been recorded, was losing the new
films due to a conflict between the film company and the
union. The union criticized the company for wanting to use
New Zealand actors who are not unionized instead of
organized Australian actors. The director then threatened to
move the recordings to another country. The filming of the
new films is expected to provide New Zealand with thousands
of jobs and revenue of around SEK 10 billion. The film
recordings attract many tourists to the country. The two
"Hobbit" films that will now be recorded take place before
the adventure in the "The Legend of the Ring" trilogy. The
films are scheduled to premiere at Christmas 2012.
In December, New Zealand's Armed Forces released all of
its previously clandestine reports of UFO phenomena. There
are hundreds of reports written during the period 1954–2009,
in which pilots, military and the public tell about their
observations. The reports of a total of 2,000 pages have
been published on the Internet.
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