New Zealand

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New Zealand is a country on a group of islands southeast of Australia with a population of four million and a capital city of Wellington. It has soldiers in Afghanistan and has used its soldiers in the past decade in various Pacific islands such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands. [1] [2]


The BBC says of the country's media:

New Zealand's broadcasters enjoy one of the world's most liberal media arenas. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1988, when the government allowed competition to the state broadcaster, Television New Zealand.[2]

U.S. nuclear warships banned

In 1984, the United States and Britain terminated military cooperation with New Zealand because of New Zealand's demand that any warships visiting the country say whether nuclear weapons are on board. [3]

U.S. nuclear warships are now banned from visiting the country because of New Zealand's 1987 ban on nuclear weapons. The ban has been popular with the populace but trade with the U.S. has suffered. [4]

In 2007, Trade and Disarmament Minister Phil Goff said that he wanted all of the southern hemisphere to be a nuclear-free zone within 20 years. Greens co-leader Russel Norman said that New Zealand should withdraw money invested in companies such as Northrop Grumman Corporation and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) because of their manufacture of nuclear weapons. [5]

Both the U.S. and Australia are pushing for nuclear power plants to help combat global warming but New Zealand is opposing this and saying the emphasis should be on reducing greenhouse gases. [6]



Related SourceWatch articles


  1. New Zealand, National Geographic, accessed January 2008.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Country profile: New Zealand, BBC, accessed January 2008.
  3. Serge Schmemann, "Danes Divided on Nuclear Resolution", New York Times, April 26, 1988.
  4. Nick Perry, "Gregoire, New Zealand leader discuss common interests", The Seattle Times, March 24, 2007.
  5. "New Zealand politicians stoke anti-nuclear activism", Deutsche Presse-Agentur/m&c news, June 9, 2007.
  6. Ian Llewellyn, "NZ isolated over nuclear energy", The New Zealand Herald, September 6, 2007.

External articles

External resources