| Provinces | |
|---|---|
| |
.svg) Provinces in 1858 | |
| Category | Provinces |
| Location | Colony of New Zealand |
| Created |
|
| Abolished |
|
Theprovinces of theColony of New Zealand existed as a form ofsub-national government. Initially established in 1846 when New Zealand was aCrown colony withoutresponsible government, two provinces (New Ulster andNew Munster) were first created. Each province had its ownlegislative council and governor. With the passing of theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852 the provinces were recreated around the six planned settlements or "colonies".[1] By 1873 the number of provinces had increased to nine, but they had become less isolated from each other and demands for centralised government arose. In 1875 theNew Zealand Parliament decided to abolish the provincial governments, and they came to an end in November 1876. They were superseded bycounties, which were later replaced byterritorial authorities.
Following abolition, the provinces became known as provincial districts. Their principal legacy is the use of some provincial boundaries to determine the geographical boundaries for anniversary daypublic holidays.
_MAP_OF_THE_COLONY_NEW_ZEALAND.jpg)
Following theTreaty of Waitangi in 1840,New Zealand became a British colony, initially as part ofNew South Wales.
TheRoyal Charter of November 1840[2] stated that the islands of New Zealand were "designated and known respectively" as:[3]
These names were of geographic significance only.[4] New Zealand became aCrown Colony in May 1841, separate from New South Wales.[3]
In 1846 theBritish Parliament passed the firstNew Zealand Constitution Act, which allowed for the establishment of provinces. GovernorGeorge Grey arrived in New Zealand in November 1845, and upon reading the new Constitution Act in May 1847 argued for its suspension in dispatches to the Colonial Office.[5] Before this occurred, Grey proclaimed the provincial boundaries on 10 March 1848:[1]
Each province had aLieutenant-Governor, appointed by the Governor-in-Chief.[6]
The 1846 Constitution Act was suspended in early 1848, with the only operative provisions relating to the reform of the provinces. News of the suspension did not reach New Zealand until 23 March 1848, when the immigrant shipJohn Wickliffe arrived inPort Chalmers to begin European settlement of Otago.[1]
In addition, the provinces were separated from the central government for the first time.
New Ulster and New Munster had their own seals.[7]
.svg)
New provinces were formed by theNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852. This act established a quasi-federal system of government and divided the country into the six provinces ofAuckland,New Plymouth,Wellington,Nelson,Canterbury, andOtago.[8][9] Each province elected its own legislature, known as a provincial council, and elected asuperintendent who was not a member of the council.[10] Each council elected a speaker at their first meeting after an election.[11]
The Constitution Act also created a nationalGeneral Assembly consisting of theLegislative Council (appointed by thegovernor) and the directly electedHouse of Representatives. The provinces came into being on 17 January 1853 and the regulations defining the boundaries of the provinces were gazetted on 28 February. Electoral regulations were gazetted on 5 March.[11] As with general elections, elections were open to males 21 years or older who owned freehold property worth £50 a year. Thefirst provincial elections were held at the same time as the1853 general elections.[12] While GovernorGeorge Grey had issued the writs for the provincial and general elections at the same time, the provincial councils met before the general assembly met, in May 1854.[13]
The New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1857 provided for the appointment of a deputy superintendent.
.svg)
The Constitution Act provided for the creation of additional provinces, and when the spread of European settlements between the original centres of the provincial governments and the outlying settlers grew, the General Assembly passed the New Provinces Act 1858.[14] This act allowed any district of between 500 thousand and 3 million acres(2,000–12,000 km2) of land with a European population of no fewer than 1,000 people to petition for separation provided that at least 60% of electors agreed.Hawke's Bay Province split off from Wellington on 1 November 1858,Marlborough Province from Nelson on 1 November 1859, andSouthland Province from Otago on 1 April 1861. New Plymouth changed its name to Taranaki under the same act.[11] Stewart Island, which had since 1853 not been part of any province, was annexed to the province of Southland on 10 November 1863.[15]
Provinces established under this act elected their superintendents in a different way. Members of the provincial council would elect a suitable person listed on the electoral roll as superintendent by a majority. If such a person was an elected member, this would result in a by-election to fill the vacancy.[14]
| Province | Formed from | Date formed | Date dissolved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland | New Ulster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| New Plymouth[* 1] | New Ulster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| Hawke's Bay | Wellington | 1 November 1858 | 1 November 1876 |
| Wellington | New Munster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| Nelson | New Munster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| Marlborough | Nelson | 1 November 1859 | 1 November 1876 |
| Westland | Canterbury | 1 December 1873[* 2] | 1 November 1876 |
| Canterbury | New Munster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| Otago | New Munster | 17 January 1853 | 1 November 1876 |
| Southland | Otago | 25 March 1861 | 5 October 1870[* 3] |
The provinces have broken down because of their coming into conflict with the colonial government on many points, and especially on points of finance. Their doom was only a question of time, when it became obvious that they could not raise their own revenue; that they had to look to the general government to supply deficiencies; and that they could not borrow without the colony becoming liable.
— Colonial TreasurerJulius Vogel, 1876[16]
.svg)
The provinces were the subject of protracted political debate almost as soon as they were founded. Two factions emerged in theGeneral Assembly: "Centralists", favouring a strong central government, and "Provincialists", favouring strong regional governments. The Centralist members of the General Assembly regarded the provinces as inherently self-interested, and prone topork-barrel politics. In the construction of railways, for example, three of the provinces had constructed railways (as was the case in Australia) to differenttrack gauges, withCanterbury Provincial Railways being built to "broad" gauge, and Southland's railways being built to "standard" gauge. As a result, the Public Works Act of 1870 standardised the gauge to be used, and Otago's first railway, thePort Chalmers railway, was built to the new "standard" narrow gauge. Colonial Treasurer (and later Premier)Julius Vogel launched hisGreat Public Works policy of immigration and public works schemes of the 1870s, borrowing the massive sum of 10 million pounds, to develop significant infrastructure of roads, railways, and communications, all administered by the central government. This diminished the power of the provinces greatly. The provinces were finally abolished by the Abolition of Provinces Act 1875,[11] during thepremiership ofHarry Atkinson. The act came into force on 1 November 1876, but the superintendents stayed in office until the replacement county councils took office on 1 January 1877.[17]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Provinces of New Zealand" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Upon abolition, the provinces took the legal status of provincial districts that had no administrative functions.[18] Local government was vested in elected borough and county councils. The Counties Bill of 1876 created63 counties out of the provinces. In 1989 the counties were replaced by enlargeddistrict councils.
The boundaries of the former provinces served as administrative areas for education boards set up under the Education Act of 1877 and for the offices of several Government departments, including theDepartment of Lands and Survey. Various responsibilities were delegated to boards. For example, theEducation Act 1877 created theEducation Boards for Auckland, Hamilton, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Wanganui, Wellington, Nelson, Westland, Southland, Canterbury and Otago districts. The Department of Lands and Survey split the country into theLand Districts of Auckland (North), Auckland (South), Hawkes Bay, Gisborne, Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland, Otago and Southland.
TheNew Zealand Rugby Union was formed in 1892 with foundation members principally being provinces:Auckland†,Hawke's Bay†,Taranaki†,Manawatu,Wanganui,Wairarapa,Wellington†,Nelson†,Marlborough† andSouth Canterbury. At the time, three major South Island Provincial Unions –Canterbury†,Otago† andSouthland† – resisted the central authority of the NZRU.
Some currentProvincial Anniversary Days are stillpublic holidays in New Zealand: Auckland†, Taranaki†, Hawkes' Bay†, Wellington†, Marlborough†, Nelson†, Canterbury†, Canterbury (South), Westland†, Otago†, Southland† and Chatham Islands.
The provincial districts haddifferent boundaries from the present dayregions, for example, the Manawatū-Whanganui region is largely in the Wellington provincial district. The districts are represented by teams inrugby union'sITM Cup andHeartland Championship, both of which replaced theNational Provincial Championship in 2006, although the term "provincial" is still used in connection with rugby for the present 29 unions whether founded in the 1880s (e.g. Otago) or 2006 (Tasman).[19]
Some of the names persist in other contexts as well, such as health administration districts:Northland,Waitemata,Auckland†,Counties Manukau,Waikato,Bay of Plenty,Lakes (Rotorua/Taupo),Hawke's Bay†,MidCentral (Manawatu),Tairawhiti (Gisborne),Taranaki,Whanganui,Wairarapa,Hutt Valley,Capital and Coast (Wellington)†,Nelson (Marlborough)†,West Coast†,Canterbury†,South Canterbury andSouthern (Otago)†.
Some of the names of former provinces and current regions have a tendency to be preceded by "the". Thus, for example, we haveAuckland,Canterbury,Hawke's Bay,Marlborough andWellington, butthe Waikato,the Manawatu,the Bay of Plenty, andthe West Coast.
The currentregions of New Zealand and most of their councils came about in 1989:Northland,Auckland†,Waikato,Bay of Plenty,Gisborne,Hawke's Bay†,Taranaki†,Manawatu-Whanganui,Wellington†,Tasman,Nelson†,Marlborough†,West Coast†,Canterbury†,Otago† andSouthland†.
Another usage of words associated with the former provinces often refers to anything rural, e.g. one may refer to a town asprovincial rather than rural or use the phrase 'out in the provinces,' in order to refer to the countryside. These terms can often be heard on national television networks, particularly on weather broadcasts.
† indicates a former province.