The ecological challenge of climate change
In 2020, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern proclaimed a "state of climate emergency", a measure adopted by parliament by 76 votes to 43 and designed to underline the need for a rapid and effective ecological action plan to preserve future generations. The UK, Ireland, Canada, Spain, France and the European Parliament had made a similar declaration in 2019, and Vanuatu joined the ranks in 2022.
New Zealand has also pledged to produce 100% renewable energy by 2035, and is among the countries committed to achieving carbon neutrality for greenhouse gases by 2050.
Awareness is growing, and impressive progress has been made in just a few years, notably in reducing the use of plastic. Plastic bags are no longer distributed in stores and take-away boxes are now made of cardboard, which is no small measure in a country where people eat out more often than at home.
Unfortunately, not everything is green in kiwi land. Among the most obvious problems are the regular and unabashed use of airplanes to cover short distances (in a nation of 2 islands and a long coastline, this is admittedly very practical...), the unrestricted use of glyphosate in agriculture, and the dairy industry, which is increasingly being criticized for its extremely harmful impact on waterways and the country's rising greenhouse gas emissions.
The other environmentalist component: conservation
Conservation is one of the major challenges facing modern New Zealand. Awareness of the impact of human presence on local flora and fauna (40-50% of endemic bird species are on the brink of extinction, and 14 million hectares of forest have disappeared since the arrival of humans) has led New Zealanders to implement fairly radical conservation policies to protect their native flora and fauna. Today, for example, it is totally forbidden to cut down a native tree, even if it is located on our own property (so it's best to think carefully before planting such a tree in your garden).
The country is also waging war on predators and introduced species that ravage trees and birds alike. Hunting, for example, is completely unregulated, since all the species hunted (deer, wild boar, rabbits, goats, etc.) have been introduced and are doing serious damage to the environment.
The No. 1 enemy, however, is the opossum, introduced in the 19th century from Australia for the fur trade. Mainly herbivorous, it is estimated that the entire opossum population consumes 21,000 tonnes of vegetation every night. The main problem is that one individual feeds on the same tree night after night until the tree dies. Moreover, although primarily herbivorous, the possum is an opportunist that also feeds on fruit, berries and nectar - depriving many native birds of their food source - as well as insects, eggs, chicks or even adult birds such as the kererū, kiwi, piwakawaka or tūī. Other predators will have to wake up early to steal its status as the country's most hated animal.
All parks, urban and national, are equipped with traps, "1080" - a poison aimed specifically at possums - is regularly dispersed by plane in regional and national parks, individuals are encouraged to install traps in their gardens or properties, there are drawing competitions for children engaging them to imagine the next generation of traps!
New Zealand's goal is to be "Predator free" by 2050, and it's truly a constant battle.
The post-pandemic: recovering from Covid
New Zealand had one of the strictest policies in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The intransigence of the health authorities proved extremely effective in stemming the epidemic (the Minister of Health was nicknamed "the curve crusher"), but it also did a great deal of damage to the country's economy, a fact that Labour's detractors were quick to point out.
The most obvious example is tourism, which before the pandemic was the country's leading economic driver. Pre-Covid, New Zealand welcomed over 3 million tourists a year, equivalent to more than half its population. The closure of the country's borders for almost 2 years took a heavy toll on the industry.
The hotel and restaurant sectors also suffered greatly, not only because of the sudden halt in tourism, but also because telecommuting incentives emptied urban centers of their consumers. Another problem was that, as these establishments relied heavily on the pool of workers represented by the PVTs (young people on Working Holiday Permits), they found themselves desperately short of manpower, and many had great difficulty in operating. As a result, many establishments were forced to close their doors, unable to cope for such a long time. The agricultural sector was equally hard hit by the labor shortage, and many harvests could not be carried out...
The reopening of the borders in 2022 seemed to herald a rebound in these industries, which should revive the country's economy. A number of politicians, however, spoke of reforming tourism policies, no longer wishing to make the economy dependent on "mass tourism". In particular, there was talk of reducing the influx of young "backpackers" in favor of more "upscale" tourism. It remains to be seen whether these speeches will be followed by concrete action, or whether the need for cheap, voluntary farm labor will ensure that New Zealand remains a paradise for PVTers for some time to come.
The māori renaissance - developing a bi-cultural identity
If, in the 1950s, everything was done to ensure that Māori culture melted away and disappeared into European culture (with, for example, the ban on speaking te reo in schools, even if children didn't speak English), New Zealand made a radical turnaround at the end of the last century, and the recognition and dissemination of Māori culture is now one of the country's major issues.
Te reo is now taught in schools and plays an increasingly important role in the daily lives of New Zealanders; certain Māori words are being substituted for their English equivalents more and more frequently, names of places and animals are increasingly formulated in te reo, and new words carrying new concepts have taken root in everyday vocabulary, such as the notion of "whanau" (pronounced fanau), extended family or community.
The Māori are increasingly represented in government and the media, and on the legal front, the Waitangi Tribunal continues to work to redress past injustices committed in the name of the treaty. The road is still long, and there are still detractors to all these initiatives, but the path seems increasingly clear, and the nation's identity is increasingly asserted around this bi-cultural heritage.
Evolution of the population
The issue of settlement in New Zealand has always been central. The very signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was prompted by the uncontrolled settlement of the country that was taking place (threat of a French colony at Akaroa and waves of settlers brought in by Edward Wakefield and the New Zealand Company).
Subsequently, the question arose of the type of society we wanted to build, and therefore the type of people we wanted to let into the territory. The need to create cultural cohesion first motivated the authorities to restrict immigration to British nationals, then the need for manpower led policies to evolve towards greater ethnic and cultural openness, until they became totally open in this respect and based solely on the qualities and skills of aspiring migrants. Immigration is, and always has been, extremely controlled, and with every change in policy comes the question of what kind of society the country wants to build.
The identity that is taking shape today is that of a multi-cultural country that welcomes people regardless of nationality, but which makes it a condition of access to have the skills that the country lacks. In 2022, the government introduced a new immigration policy reform. Still based on skills, the conditions of access have been tightened, however, and aspiring migrants will have to arm themselves with more perseverance than before.
The age criterion is also a determining factor, as New Zealand is particularly keen to attract and retain young migrants to counter the aging of its population.
